The First Masters of Spinjitsu
by LadyMarissaGarmadon
Summary: Long ago there were six students, masters of several of the elements; earth, light, shadow, fire, water, ice, & lightning. They grew up & were the family they never really had. Along the way they will find friends & enemies, love & hatred, despair & rage, many trials that will shape their destinies & test their hearts. This is the story of Garmadon & his friends.
1. Prologue

**Okay so this story is a far better back story and this one is geared to follow cannon as much a as possible with my own headcannons and others' that I liked. **

**There will also be many villains taken from the comics like "Stone Cold". The only actually 'OC' is the idea of the Phantom Ninja training with Garmadon, Misako, and Wu. Then there are the half OCs such as Kai's parents who are pretty prominent in this story. **

**So I hope that you enjoy this, I plan on making long and hopefully focusing on the other three characters besides Garmadon, Wu, and Misako respectively :)**

* * *

><p><em>I heard a funny thing once; an old tale that the master use to tell the six of us as young children. It was a beautiful, yet tragic story about the sun and the moon and the love that they shared. <em>

_The sun was impulsive; with a burning passion and desire to live. _

_The moon was quiet; she was graceful with gentleness in her heart. _

_The sun, he rose and lit the day and moon, she came out at night to light the dark sky. They only ever saw each other once, when the sky was gold and for a brief time, they shared time together._

_I learned that the sun loved the moon so much; he let himself die every day just to see the moon breathe, for he loved her very deeply though they only spent fleeting moments together. _

_The story always stuck with me when I grew up and trained with my friends. I never knew why the story meant so much to me, especially when I looked at the master's son. He was older than me by five months and still we were like twins._

_But then as I trained and fought, I learned about the balance of nature. Yin and Yang were the light and the dark sides of the scale of power. _

_As ninja, we protect it with our lives for one slip up, one wrong move, and not only can we could suffer greatly, we could put other's in dangers as well._

_We ignored it though. _

_We missed the signs and when you commit a crime, you must pay for what you did. _

_What we did was no crime though, it was merely love._

_I thought that love had no punishment. It was something all humans feel at least once in their lives. _

_But it is, especially when you stand on one side, and the one you love is dragged to the other side against his will. _

_Life is such a dangerous game when you are like us. You hold so much power inside of you, you think you are a god, but you are still just a mortal._

_They say that power corrupts; but I like to think that it just enables a wicked heart._

_I sometimes wonder though why the man I loved had to have one. _

_But he is not wicked, he is merely tainted by the only one created to be evil since the dawn of Ninjago itself._

_And I know that my love is always somewhere inside of him because he is Garmadon and I know he will always overcome his obstacles._

**So this was obviously from Misako's POV... **

**I have a whole line up of villains and adventures so sit back and I hope you enjoy the story! **

**~Mar**


	2. Brother of Mine

Two brunettes stood side by side in white gis, barefoot like the man who was instructing them. The boy had a blue lotus crest on his top and the girl had one in green.

"Now my students; pay close attention," The Spinjitsu master spoke to his two young children watching him as he showed them the right form and stance.

Misako looked over as Garmadon stood, slouching with a hint of boredom in his dark eyes. She knew that he would much rather do something more interesting than learning martial art basics. They were almost four years old after all.

Her wide, emerald colored eyes looked back to their master, trying to pay attention for he was not always a patient man.

"Are you two listening to me?" The boy and girl looked up innocently at the tall man. He sighed, "Why don't you take a break? We can continue this in a minute while I check on your mother… Run along". He shooed his son and friend off.

The two ran across the stone courtyard and started to climb the big tree that was off to the side against the high, stone wall. Garmadon reached the top first and extended his small hand to his friend.

She took it and pulled herself up; sitting on the limb next to him, "I think you should listen more to him…" Misako quietly kicked her legs in the air. "You're lucky your father is so patient though… and that your parents are always around".

The boy laughed, "Nah…" he sat back against the trunk. "Why do we have to do this?" he looked down at the pavement.

"Because we're gonna be ninja stupid," she shoved him a little, giggling. She stood up and started picking cherries off the trees with her small hands.

Garmadon didn't laugh with her, "So… when do you think my mom's gonna have my brother?" he asked, looking at the sliding doors his father disappeared behind. "My dad keeps telling me any day now…"

Misako toyed with her short twin braids and shrugged, "I don't know…" She yawned and looked up at the sun, squinting, "Wanna go inside? It's hot out and I'm thirsty…" she popped two more cherries in her mouth and started climbing back down the wide trunk, her hands scraping on the rough bark.

She dusted her hands off on her white gi and was followed by Garmadon.

They climbed the steps onto the wooden deck and heard screaming from inside. The two friends looked at each other and rushed inside.

They poked through the doorway into his mother's room. Garmadon saw his mother was lying back against her pillows, holding a small, white bundle in her pale arms.

Delilah looked at the doorway and saw their two sets of eyes peering inside and weakly smiled at them.

"You may come in," she nodded.

Misako stood next to the nightstand and Garmadon sat on the bed, next to his mother. He looked at the little, pink face poking through the blankets. "His name is Wu," she said.

The older brother looked down curiously. He had never seen a baby up close before, until now. He half smiled. Delilah ruffled Garmadon's dark hair, "Go on… you can go back to playing…" she tiredly said, looking at Misako.

"You're so lucky you have a sibling…" Misako smiled sitting on the edge of the shingled roof. "My mom and dad… well… they told me I was enough…" she looked down.

The darker haired boy smiled and laid back, looking at the sun, "Do you really think we'll become ninja?" he closed his eyes.

"Oh yes…" she nodded. "And we'll be the new masters of Spinjitsu".

**Thanks for clicking on this story and reading :) This one is so gon be a doozy... on chapter 20 sort of... I'm so excited to use villains from Stone Cold, you have no idea how much I am enjoying this! **

**The first couple of chapters I think were pretty cute being they're all little kids :3**

**~Mar**


	3. Abandoned

"Hi-ya!" Misako swung her short leg around. Garmadon slid underneath, foot colliding with her narrow ankle, knocking her off her feet and laughed.

The back of her head hit the pavement and she groaned. "That's enough, Garmadon wins!" his father quickly said, looking to see how fast she would recover.

Garmadon pulled her to her feet and laughed again, "Got ya real good Mimi".

The lighter haired girl frowned and folded her arms. "Yea well… you cheated!" she looked away, not accepting the loss.

"Masuta, get Wu," Delilah hurried after the four year old.

The Spinjitsu Master picked up his youngest son and smile, "Are you ready now to practice Wu?" The small blonde slowly nodded and his father set him down on his two feet. "Okay you two, take a rest, your mother is coming to pick you up in an hour".

"Thanks master," Misako ran inside first.

Garmadon ran ahead of her and grabbed her hand, "man I wish you could stay over another night!" he dragged her into his room. "I hate it when your parents take you back…"

Misako shrugged, "It's not like we don't see each other a lot anyways… you know I'll probably be back tomorrow or something…" she sighed, flopping on his bed. "You know my parents… always running off without me…"

"Well… they don't know how smart and cool you are," Garmadon flopped next to her. "One day I hope they're gonna stop digging in the dirt for old junk and care…"

"They do… they just… well… like what they do for a living…" she rolled her eyes.

Touko and Marcus Alexander were archeologists and spent more time away than actually at home with their daughter. When she was young though, Masuta saw her and approached them about sensing something special about her.

Of course they let her train with them and Delilah wanted nothing more than to have Misako stay over anytime they left for work. If the older woman had it her way, she'd adopt the little girl without hesitation. It started becoming more regular, for months at a time Misako learned that the monastery was more her home than the house she lived in with her parents in Ninjago City.

As they walked through the halls of the monastery, they heard the phone ring in the other room. Delilah picked it up, "Oh… really? She was looking forward to seeing you again… okay, I'll get her on the phone… Misako!"

The girl with the braids groaned and got up and took the bulky phone, "Mom?" Garmadon watched her with a sad face. "Why can't you guys come back yet?" she went silent, listening to her mother on the other end. "I haven't seen you guys in three months… You missed my birthday…"

He could see the tears pricking her eyes, "I know you guys found a bunch of relics… I don't care if there's too much snow!" Her face turned red. "Well I hope you're both happy just abandoning me here for months at a time!" She angrily hung the phone on the receiver and was shaking.

Before Garmadon or his mom could say anything she bolted out of the room, down the steps, through the courtyard past Masuta, and slammed the doors behind her, wiping her eyes as her bare feet padded down the stone steps of the monastery.

"Don't you go after her!" Delilah shouted as her oldest son ran out as well. "GARMADON!" both shouted after him. "YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED OUTSIDE ON YOUR OWN!"

"MISAKO!" Garmadon shouted as loud as he could; reaching the bottom of the steps of the mountain and wandered through the small forest that would eventually open, out to the suburban end of Ninjago City.

He heard rustling and looked up at the trees. He heard movement coming from a cherry blossom tree and quickly climbed it. "Mimi!" he breathed. His face was red from exhaustion.

"Why are you here?!" she shook.

"To find you dummy!" he squatted on the limb he was on and tilted his head. "Come on… come back… we're your home…"

Misako shook her head and looked back with her bloodshot eyes, "You don't get it… your parents are always around and would never ship you off like my does… I barely get to see them!" She shook her head and climbed up to a higher branch, wanting to be alone. "Spinjitsu gods… I barely know them!"

Garmadon wouldn't take no for an answer and followed her higher and higher up the big tree until there was nowhere else to go. "Come home…" he hugged her tightly. "You are the only friend I ever had…"

Misako sniffed and hugged him back. "Okay…" she nodded. "You are too…" she smiled.

**Well, VBS is almost done... also... I got a copy of Tomodotchi Life... it is my newest addiction...**

**Well, thanks fro reading :) I look forward to posting more on this one...**

**~Mar**


	4. Bitten

Delilah kissed the top of both her sons' heads, "We'll be back later," she took Misako's hand and walked out the monastery doors to go into town.

Masuta looked at both of his sons, "Why don't you two have a spar? I haven't seen you both do it in a while," he looked at the sword rack, thinking something over for a few moments, "You may use the special swords, but you must take care of them," he walked inside, "I will be in the library and try not to really injure each other".

Garmadon and Wu looked at one another and grinned. When their father went inside, they ran over to the sword rack and the taller brother carefully gave it to his brother and took the other for himself.

They trotted over to the center of the courtyard and stood, back to back, swords upright and out of their sheaths.

"One… two… three…" Garmadon quietly counted and they spun around, steel clashing against the other.

Garmadon was obviously faster and stronger than his five year old brother, but nonetheless, he went easy on him like any older sibling would do and used one arm while Wu stuck with both small hands on the hilt.

Wu's grip wasn't all that good though as one sweeping motion from his brother sent the sword flying through the air, and landed beyond the wall outside the gates.

The two brothers looked at one another with pale faces and swallowed. Their father told them to be careful with the swords not five minutes ago, and they just disobeyed that condition. "Come on Wu, go get it…"

The short blonde looked up at the high walls and shrank back, shaking his head, "We aren't allowed outside without mommy or daddy…" he squeaked.

"Well we can't ask dad to get it because he will be mad, and mommy's not here to keep it a secret for us," Garmadon stepped up to the high, red gates of the monastery and looked back at Wu, beckoning him to come with him. "I'll go out with you if it makes you feel any better… and if we're caught say it was my idead."

The younger shook his head again, "Well then fine… but you should know little brother, never put off tomorrow what can be done today," he tried to sound older and wiser and opened the gates to fetch the sword.

He looked around the shrubbery at the edges of the walls and spied a sliver glint. He got down on his knees and found his brother's katana underneath a cluster of bushes. He reached his hand under to grab it.

When his small hand closed around the hilt of the sword, he felt a sharp pinch and jerked his hand back out. "OW!" he clapped his hand over his mouth.

He looked at his hand and saw the two puncture wounds in his hand. Blood started dripping out and he tried to force himself to not cry but it stung like hell.

He lay on the grass as the pains shot through his hand and then up his arms, slowly radiating through his whole body and he started sweating. He turned his head and saw something thin and green wormed its way out of the bushes. "What the-?" he wiped one eye with his good hand.

"BROTHER!" Wu ran out quickly. "He's out here!" he looked behind him.

The little snake Garmadon saw had vanished and he assumed it was probably a hallucination. Masuta picked his son up and brought him into his room and started looking him over as the eight year old groaned.

"Wu's fault…" he shook his head. "It's his fault…"

Then he saw the hand. "Son… what gave this to you?" he pressed on one of the puncture wounds.

"OW!" Garmadon shouted.

Wu peeked inside, scared of what was happening to his brother. The brunette opened his eyes, "It's all Wu's fault!" he shouted angrily, he dark blue eyes flickering bright red.

Wu's round, blue eyes widened in terror and he ran down the hallway and hid under his bed, scared to see his brother after what he just said. It wasn't false though, Wu didn't go out with him to fetch his weapon.

He poked his head out when he heard the front gates lock. "We're back!" Then the footsteps of Masuta's wood sandals clacking on the wood floor came.

The shoji doors slid open and he must have told his mother what happened because she dropped whatever she was holding and ran inside, followed by the softer footsteps of Misako.

"My son…" Delilah touched Garmadon's face gently. "He's burning up…"

"I know…" Masuta quietly said.

Misako looked up at both adults, starting to feel scared. She sat up on the bed and held her friend's hand. "Garmadon? Are you okay?" she frowned. "Wake up please…" she quietly said as his parents were talking in the corner of the room.

"Hmm?" he opened his tired eyes and looked up at her. "H-hi…" he swallowed. "My head hurts…" he groaned.

Misako threw herself on him and squeezed him. "You'll be okay…" she smiled and sniffed. "Just stay down and rest okay?" he set his head back on the pillow and nodded.

**I getting pumped about this story too now XD So far I haven't gotten a lot of reviews or likes and stuff... so I wonder if anyone's really paying attention to this story XD Figures when I try and balance out OC and more cannon character stories no one is watching XD**

**Thanks if you are reading ;) I appreciate it. **

**~Mar**


	5. Secret

Nine candles on the birthday cake and only four others at her small party. Misako closed her eyes and blew the last candle, making the wish she made every year since she met Garmadon's family.

"What do you wish for every year?" Wu asked out of nowhere when the three were sitting under the draping cherry blossom tree in the courtyard. Garmadon flicked his brother in the temple. "OW!" he cried. "Why did you do that!?" he whimpered.

"You don't ask stupid stuff like that!" Garmadon growled.

The green eyes girl looked down and brought her knees up, "It's okay…" she shifted her shoulders. "I just… I wish that my parents would be home more often… this is the third birthday they missed in a row…" she tucked her light brown hair behind her ear and shrugged. "It doesn't matter though…"

"Does too matter!" Garmadon lightly punched her in the shoulder. "You're parents are frikkin jerks and you need to accept it. No one leaves their kid behind like that! If you do then you should just die."

Misako looked over at him and wiped her eyes, "… wish my dad heard you say that…" she tried to laugh, "He would smack you for talking like that to him…"

"Then I guess I'd get smacked every time I saw him!" he folded his arms.

Wu sat in silence. It was almost like he wasn't even there to his brother. He stood up and put his hands in his pant pockets, "I'm… gonna go inside…" she shuffled out.

Wu wandered down the hallway and then heard quiet talking coming from the other side of the door to his parent's room.

"I wish you would have told me sooner Lilah…"

"I didn't want to worry you Masuta… I'm sorry…"

Wu frowned. _"What are they talking about?"_

"How long do you… have?"

He heard his mother whimper, probably crying, "They said I have two months… maybe three…" Wu's light blue eyes widened. "Please don't tell the boys… especially Garmadon…"

"They'll find out eventually-"

"And why worry them now? Please pretend everything is okay? Do it for them…"

"If you told me sooner I might have been able to help you… you know I could have done something…"

"I'm sorry…"

Wu backed from the door, heart racing. _"What did they mean by that?" _He was about to turn and run when the door opened and Wu fell on his butt.

Masuta looked down at his youngest son. He looked angry at first but sighed and picked him up and held him close. "Wu… what did you hear?"

"All of it…" he whispered, burying his face in his father's tan shirt.

Masuta sighed again and looked back at his son's matching blue eyes, "Do not tell your brother this… do you understand me? Not now at least". He gave a small smile, "It'll be our little secret… okay?"

"Yes sir…" Wu swallowed and nodded quickly, wiping the tears from his eyes.

**I have no comment other than sorry this one was short... they get hella long, trust me...**

**Thanks for reading... **

**~Mar**


	6. It's Called Love

Masuta stood, holding each son's hand and Garmadon held Misako's hand as they stared at the tombstone. "Why did you not tell me?" Garmadon quietly said. There was silent anger in his voice.

"Garmadon…" Misako whispered, afraid he would start yelling.

He looked up when his father did not answer, brushing her aside and jerking his hand away from his father, "Why?" His eyes were shining red.

"Because she loved you so much she begged me not to tell you for you would worry the whole time she had left… she wanted each day you had left with her to be normal for you two".

"If I knew she was dying… I could have shared and asked everything I wanted with her… you denied me that…"

"I cannot help it of you take what you love for granted…"

Garmadon looked back at the grave and started shaking. It was getting even darker out as clouds rolled in. "Come inside… you'll get wet…" Masuta said.

"Just leave me alone…" Garmadon turned away.

The older man took Misako's hand and led her and Wu inside. Garmadon wiped his eyes and sat in the dirt as he felt the drizzle start. "Why didn't you tell me mommy?" he wiped his eyes more as tears started forming.

_"And this one is-"_

_"An Anacondrai," Garmadon piped, pointing to the picture. _

_Delilah hugged him tightly and kissed the top of his head, "Yes, that's right sweetie," she brushed his hair down. "You're so smart"._

_"Mommy, how do you know so much about creatures?" he sat up on his knees._

_She laughed and kissed his nose, leaning against the pillows on her bed. "Well that's easy, it's because your daddy helped me to be a ninja… just like he's gonna teach you and Misako, and you baby brother to do the same"._

_"Mommy… can you never die?" he fell forward and hugged, careful not to squish her stomach. _

_She laughed and tilted her head, "Well… no one can live forever sweetheart…" she kissed his forehead. _

_"Daddy can!" _

_"No, daddy is every ounce vulnerable as you or I…" she closed her mouth trying to be serious with him, "You can't run around thinking no one can hurt you… because they can… anyone can if you let them… but you're training to be a ninja and that means that you and Misako will become guardians for people who are being hurt by bad people… okay?"_

_"Yea okay," Garmadon smiled and kissed her cheek. He looked down, "But I'm gonna become the most strongest ninja ever!" he laughed. _

_Delilah shook her head and smiled, "You sound just like him now…"_

"I know ya told me that everybody dies… but… you didn't have to lie to me for two months!" he shouted at her headstone.

His face was numb with tears and he started shaking as a burning feeling spread throughout his small body. He gave another rage filled scream.

Misako looked through the window and saw him throwing a fit. She looked down at her mug of cocoa and stood up. She put her jacket and scarf back on and went back outside.

Garmadon was sitting in mud, head hung. She kneeled next to him and offered him a mug, holding an umbrella over the both of them. He didn't respond so she nudged her body against his side. He looked up and wiped his nose on his sleeve and she offered a small smile.

He looked up at her and gingerly took the mug, sniffling. "I'm sorry…" she hugged him with her one arm.

It took him a few moments to register affection or physical contact such as this but he raised one arm and hugged her back. "Thanks Mimi…" they leaned against each other, shoulder to shoulder, sitting in the dirt.

Wu curiously looked outside too at Misako's profile. "How can she be so kind daddy?" he quietly asked. "Brother was just raging and crying and now… she made him stop…"

Masuta looked at his blonde son, "Because… it's called love and Misako is a girl full of it…" He picked Wu up and hugged him. "And… you know… Garmadon was very close with your mother... especially before you were born…"

The small blonde looked back again at the two sitting under the umbrella. He then looked at Misako's distant figure and tilted his head with a smile.

**This is another favorite to write :3**

**Thanks for reading**

**~Mar**


	7. Kasai and Namiko

Wu trailed behind the two older kids as they headed down the mountain to run an errand for their father. It was the first official time they were leaving the monastery unsupervised. Wu couldn't help but feel excited.

"Will ya shut up already about it?" Garmadon rolled his head back, growing tired of the eight year old's constant yammering.

When they got into town Garmadon pulled out a list, "Okay… Wu… why don't you stay here and we'll handle this…"

"Okay!" Wu looked around, distracted by the other people shopping and going about their business.

"And don't run off! I won't come after you if you get lost or if someone kidnaps you!" Misako flinched at his harsh tone. It'd been two years since their mother died and Garmadon grew more irritated than ever. "Come on Mimi…"

They walked into the market and Misako looked at the list, "Okay… looks like we're picking up some milk… rice…" she looked at the neat handwriting. "Well, let's start with that… let's hurry though, okay?" She didn't want Wu getting into any trouble.

Wu wasn't doing anything really, just sitting on a bench looking bored. He finally stood up and started going through his forms mindlessly while waiting for his older brother.

"Get back here Kasai!" the blonde jerked up with see a boy with shaggy black hair running through.

Kasai looked back and laughed, "Sorry Veronica but not today!" He held up a bag of candy and winked at the older girl yelling after him.

He knocked into Wu and the two looked at each other, "Hey kid, come on!" he grabbed Wu's hand and dragged him along as the girl named Veronica chased them.

"Where are we going?" the blue eyed boy blinked.

"Name's Kasai!" he looked back. "How 'bout you?"

"Uh… Wu?" Wu blinked, still not understanding where Kasai was going that he somehow got brought into.

"Namiko!" He banged on a door.

"Again!?" A girl his age, with long, brown hair and milky brown eyes sighed. She looked down the alley and shook her head. "Come on!" She pulled both boys inside and locked the door. "Kasai you really get into too much trouble!"

"Nami; Wu, Wu; Nami!" Kasai grinned. Wu noticed he seemed to ignore the most of what people said to him.

Namiko shook her head. "Well, hiya Wu… sorry Kas dragged you along… he does that every so often…" she apologized for her friend's actions.

"Who are you two exactly?" the eight year old blonde asked.

Kasai sat on a stool, "Well I'm an orphan and Namiko's dad runs a pub here!" he held his hands out. "Though… he doesn't really like me," he scratched the back of his head, blushing. "Ever since I stole that bottle of liquor anyways…"

Namiko rolled her eyes, "He tried looking out for you and you ignored him! 'Course he's mad at you!"

Wu sighed, "Sorry to hear that… but… I need to get back to where I was… you see… my older brother and friend told me to not move from where I was and I'm sure they'll be really mad if they don't find me there…"

* * *

><p>Garmadon and Misako stood side by side in the small park area, each holding a bag. "I'm gonna kill him…" Garmadon narrowed his eyes.<p>

Misako side glanced, "Well…" she let out a breath, "Better start looking for him…" she hung her head and started to ask people if they'd seen the younger brother.

"Namiko!" The brunette jumped to her feet at the sound of her name.

"What is it papa!?" she shouted back.

"Do you have friends over?" he asked, hearing the others talking.

She looked alarmed, "Uh… just my new friend Wu!" she bit her lip. It wasn't a total lie after all.

There was a short silence before he answered, "Okay!" The three breathed. She looked at Kasai's bag, "What dija swipe this time?" she grabbed it from him. She dug her hand in and pulled out a cluster of candy.

"Yuck! Taffy? Why would you even?" she shook her head. "You know I-" Kasai whipped out a candy bar with a smirk and she frowned and took it, "That's more like it…"

Wu looked out the window, "Oh… it must be four o'clock… my father wanted us back by now!" he started pulling on his short hair nervously.

"WU!"

"And now my brother's gonna kill me!" he cried next.

Another bang on the door and Namiko held her hand up. She walked over to the door carefully. "Hello?" No one was there at first; then a taller man kicked the door in. Namiko slid back on the wooden floor, feet planted firmly.

"Hey kiddos… hand over the cash box wouldja?" he held a sword out.

Wu and Kasai seemed to be stunned as Namiko stood her ground. She reached into the pockets of her long, red skirt and pulled out two fans. "Come then," she flicked them open, "Take it from me!"

Misako stopped in her tracks and looked around curiously, "Do you hear… fighting?"

Garmadon stopped too and looked down the alley, "Come on," he grabbed her wrist. Inside they found what they were looking for and more.

Wu back flipped out of the way and fell into a crouch and Kasai jumped off his back and whipped a sword around as Namiko swept the man off his feet from underneath.

"What the hell is this!?" Garmadon looked around. Misako covered her face. "I can't believe you got some action without me!" He shoved his bag into Misako's arms and ran in.

The green eyed girl shook her head and sighed, "This isn't a game!" the eleven year old hopped angrily.

They knocked the intruder to the ground as a steps came down the wooden staircase. "Namiko! What the hell is that awful racket?" A man with a cane stopped when he saw the five standing over a knocked out robber. "NAMIKO!"

"Papa! He was trying to steal our money!" she closed her fans and pocketed them quickly. "… and Kasai and… our new friends helped too…" she tucked some hair behind her ears and looked at her feet. She looked up again. "I know you don't like it… but I love to fight anyways," she shrugged with a half smile.

Misako looked at Kasai and Namiko, "Why… don't you two come to live with us?" The two turned around. "We have plenty of room… and Master Masuta would be perfectly fine with it…"

"As in… the first Spinjitsu Master?"

Garmadon and Wu nodded, "Yea… he's our dad…" Wu held his hands behind his back nervously.

Namiko's father looked at his daughter for a few seconds as she had her pleading eyes beg him to let her go with them. He sighed, "Fine… but you better visit Nami".

She flung her arms around him, "I will! I promise papa!" she ran upstairs and grabbed a small bag and rushed back down. "Ready!" she giggled.

* * *

><p>Masuta looked at the two newcomers and them and Misako and his sons, "So you two want to learn our special arts?"<p>

Namiko and Kasai kneels and nodded, "Please sir?"

He nodded and smiled, "Of course, welcome to the monastery young ones".

They stood up and Misako and Wu happily led them inside to their new rooms where they would be staying. "You three had an interesting day then… I am happy you made some new friends," he nodded to Garmadon.

"Whatever…" the older brunette shoved past him and hopped inside.

**This was a combination of two chapters... I felt they were too short apart... I've been combining several chapters... Would you believe I have over 30 right now? **

**I hope I don't make it too long...**

**Thank you to you few who read this story... you make me very happy if you do C:)**

**~Mar**


	8. The New Boy in Town

The five children sat around the table, it had been six months since Namiko and Kasai joined the monastery and learned from Masuta. Wu and Kasai were especially friendly same with the girls.

Garmadon was really the only one who didn't really gravitate to anyone besides Misako, same as any other day. He quietly picked at his rice as they talked around him.

"So… what's your story Misako?" Kasai asked. "Never really knew why you're here…"

Misako was quietly braiding her hair and looked up and the brown eyed boy, "Well… my parents were friends with Garmadon's… mom… but they're archeologists and are never around… I lived here most of my life…" she looked at Garmadon and smiled, "I can't think of home being anywhere better though…"

Garmadon's avoided her eyes and turned away, embarrassingly blushing.

Kasai nodded, "Yea… my mom and I were on our own… don't know where pop ran off to but we were pretty fine on our own… then mom… well… a bandit killed her…" he looked at his hands. "I was lucky Namiko was nice enough to help me, even when her father thought I was nothin' but trouble…"

The two smiled at each other and looked at Namiko, "What's your story then?" Wu asked the other older girl.

She smiled, "Well, my mom is still alive… she and papa… well split… around two years ago too… she didn't like papa runnin' a bar but I ran away from her and came back to him". She laughed, "Betcha she's still mad! Surprised she hasn't come lookin for me yet!"

"Well good morning," The five looked up at Masuta. "You all look well today… we will begin training at noon".

He walked past the dining room and into the library. "I always wanted to go in there," Wu whispered. "But he never lets anyone…"

"Peculiar ain't it?" Kasai's brown eyes flashed. "What'ya suppose is in there?"

"We shouldn't go looking for trouble," Namiko paled. "We could get kicked out!" she covered her mouth.

Garmadon pushed his chair back and stood up. "Come on… let's go down into town until training… it's getting dull around here…"

Misako followed him first and then Wu, Namiko, and Kasai. No need to tell Masuta because he already stated that they were free to go down whenever they felt like it now.

"I'm gonna visit papa," Namiko ran off. "I'll meet up with you guys later!" she waved behind her.

The other four stood, thinking of what to do next, "Hey come on, I'll teach you guys how to steal some candy…" Kasai laughed.

Wu frowned, "Ninja don't steal Kas…"

The brunette boy shrugged with a smirk, "Suit yourselves!" He laughed and was about to run off when Garmadon grabbed him by his shirt collar. Kasai kicked and tried to pull away but the older boy kept a tight grip and gave up.

"Skeletons!" The four jumped when a couple of young kids screamed it, running into the market area and hid behind couple of men.

The four looked at each other and started out to find the Underworld monsters. They found the creatures marching through the town and the three boys stood ready for a fight. Misako was behind them and shook her head.

"What makes you think we fight them!? We're twelve and nine and we can't use Spinjitsu yet!" she tried to drag them out of the idea of fighting.

Garmadon looked back at Misako and smirked, "If I manage to scare them off, you can kiss me for savin' your butt," he laughed.

Misako blushed angrily and folded her arms, "Fine then!" she nodded. "I am so telling Masuta though!"

The three boys were about to charge in when a cloud of pale blue smoke erupted in the center of the group of Skulkin.

The three boys froze in their stances and stared, wide eyed at what was happening. Misako flinched when something fast breezed by her and the Skulkin started shouting in terror. "RUN!" One of them shouted and retreated back.

When the smoke cleared, a boy about twelve stood in the center. He wore gray and lavender clothing with a kerchief covering his mouth.

He had pale gray eyes and short, black hair. He stood up and looked back at the four kids. Garmadon's mouth hung open and Kasai shut it as he walked by. "That was incredible! How didja do that!?"

Wu and Misako trotted over too and started asking him questions. "What's your name? Are you from around here?" Misako politely asked.

He lowered his purple kerchief around his neck, "My name is Tanaka, I am from a Village on this small island actually… it's called Yosho Island," he scratched the back of his head. "I came here to seek the great Spinjitsu Master so I may train under him".

Wu had a grin creep on his face, "Lucky for you; he is our dad!" he tugged on his frozen brother's tunic happily. "Right brother?"

Garmadon was not responding and Misako elbowed him in the stomach and he wheezed. "Wuh? Ya…" he rubbed where it hurt. "One big happy family we are… us and that old man," he muttered.

"After Namiko comes back from her dad's we can go back and you can ask him yourself," Kasai looked around for his second best friend.

"We can go over there now and tell her we're going back," Misako started down the street that led to Namiko's house with the boys quickly following her. Tanaka slowly started after them with hopes that the Spinjitsu Master really would accept him like the others said.

**Tanaka is the last student to be introduced in this story :) Hope you will like him ^-^ **

**Thanks for reading ;D**

**~Mar**


	9. Thief in the Night

Without hesitation in his voice, Masuta accepted Tanaka as another student. Turns out, the young boy grew up with his grandparents and were unaware of his real parents' whereabouts.

He was also a very fast learner and it gave Garmadon more focus in his training so he would always be the best. Misako constantly worried about that trait in her good friend.

Tanaka seemed to fit right in with the group anyways. He was rather silent despite Wu's constant attempts to be chatty with him. Kasai had a mutual silent friendship it seemed and Namiko and he seemed enjoy their tea together.

Then Misako never really associated with the quiet, strange boy and Garmadon tried to make a rival out of the passive kid.

"Goodnight," Masuta told the six as he retired to his room for the night.

Misako shared the room that she had since she was young with Namiko and Kasai slept in Wu's room. Garmadon was forced by his father to share his room with Tanaka until the room they used for storage could be cleaned out.

All was silent as they tried to sleep. Wu and Kasai tried to be as quiet as possible but being their room was right next to Garmadon's he was growing irritated again.

"You should not be so mad at your brother…" Tanaka quietly said, facing the wall on the floor.

The brunette rolled his red eyes, "Didn't ask for your opinion Tana…"

Tanaka sat up, "You do not like me much do you?" he raised an eyebrow, sitting up.

"Gee… how did you come up with that one?" he glared at the newer student.

The black haired boy sighed and shook his head slowly, "I-" his head lifted up. Garmadon looked at him and then the door, "Someone who should not be here is in the weapon room…"

The two scrambled up out of their beds and rushed into the room to find it so. A teenager in black clothes held the sword of fire in his hand, looking it over with a greedy glint in his eye. He seemed to not know anyone was standing behind him and collected the scythe next.

Garmadon's mouth twisted down and he cracked his knuckles, "Get out of my house!" he pointed.

The teenager turned around quickly and then laughed, "Oh good… just a couple of kids…" he leaned against the wall. His dark blue eyes narrowed. "Run along now kiddies, I'll just be on my way-"

"Brother!" Wu and Kasai slid in next. "What's… oh no…" The blonde shrunk down and hid behind Garmadon.

"We got a thief…" Garmadon smirked and folded his arms. "The old man won't like that… and there are four of us and one of you!"

The thief stepped forward, "Well it's a good thing I'm bigger and tougher than a bunch of brats!"

Tanaka sighed, "You do realize, since the Golden Weapons are here… we are the Spinjitsu Master's students?"

The other went to say something and shut his mouth instead because the thought never occurred to him. More footsteps creaked down the hall and Misako and Namiko, in their long nighties came in, wiping their eyes because they just woke up.

"What's going on?" Namiko yawned. She opened her brown eyes and squeaked. "EE! Thief!" she grabbed Tanaka's arm nervously. Kasai frowned at the gesture.

Misako was fully awake after Namiko's high pitch shrill. She looked behind her, down at the hall to see if Masuta had awoken and was coming in as well. Surprisingly, he didn't which was peculiar since his senses were far better than any of their own. She thought she heard something though but turned back to the thief.

"Put the weapons down please…" They turned around, startled. The teenager gripped the sword of fire tightly.

"Dad…" Wu smiled as everyone scrambled to get behind the old man.

Masuta walked in front of the kids. "What is your name boy?"

The tall teen with black hair and blue eyes looked down, "Sigan…" he grimaced.

Masuta slowly nodded, "Sigan… for whatever reason you have to steal my weapons, it is not good… if you are homeless then I my permit you to stay here…"

Sigan stood upright and started laughing, "Sorry old dude… but why would I ever do that? I can hock these stupid things and be set for life!"

The six kids knew what would come next and Masuta stalked forward with an unreadable face. He looked down at the shorter Sigan who swallowed. "Well then boy… I created the land on which you walk on… I hold enough power to destroy this world and everyone in it… drop the sword and scythe".

The weapons clattered to the ground and Sigan was thrown out of the monastery. "I'll be back _Spinjitsu Master…_"

**Haha, so Sigan will be back... My dad liked his name when I was talking about this story with him XD Just to let people know... Sigan is Korean for Time... **

**This story is so long already... I may have to combine more chapters O_o **

**Thanks for reading :3**

**~Mar**


	10. Hurt

Kasai and Namiko sat and watched Misako, Garmadon, Wu, and Tanaka watch Masuta demonstrate the full motion of Spinjitsu. Namiko had broken her foot the day prior from trying to create the full spin motion without shoes on. Kasai was simply helping her around.

From inside the phone rang and Misako's ears perked up. She looked inside and then back at Masuta who nodded and she ran through the ankle deep snow, up the deck stairs, through the doors.

She picked up the phone and the fifteen year old answered, "Hello?" she smiled. "Mom?" She felt joy swelling inside. "Are you coming home yet because… sixteenth birthday is tomorrow…" She bit her lip, hoping she would say yes.

_"No… sorry Misako"_

"What do you mean no? Why not?"

_"We stumbled across a huge skeleton! The museum is giving us more funding! We're going to be for even longer now! Isn't it exciting dear?!"_

"NO!" Misako shouted. "No it's not! The last time I saw you, I was fourteen… okay? You are never there for me! Ever!"

Tanaka, Kasai, and Namiko looked inside and heard the yelling. Masuta covered his face and sighed. "What's wrong with her? Who's she yelling at?"

Wu held his hands behind his back, "Misako's parents… they keep getting funding and don't come back very often… especially now".

Garmadon looked back and then ran forward, rushing inside to see Misako about ready to hang up on them, "NO! As far as I'm concerned, Masuta and Delilah are… were more of a mother and father than you two ever will be!" she screamed and slammed the phone on the receiver.

She looked up with tears in her eyes at Garmadon. She tried to ask if he heard everything but couldn't find any more words in her throat. He slowly nodded, answering the question in her mind.

Her emerald eyes released the rest of her tears and she ran into his arms and sobbed. He didn't say anything and just stood there. He then wrapped his arms around her, running one hand through her loose hair.

Wu went inside too and squeezed his arms around her as well. "We're your family… never forget that Mimi…" he quietly said. The twelve year old Wu whispered.

"Yea… we'll always love you…" Garmadon said moments after, he didn't really care that his younger brother came in and joined the hug.

Misako tried to smile, looking down at Wu. She managed to ruffle Wu's hair a little. She finally looked up at Garmadon's pale face and he wiped the tears droplets that gathered around her eyes. She never realized it before but he was handsome; looking just like Delilah did before she died.

She found it harder to breathe and fell forward again. He sighed and picked her up, carrying her past Wu to her own room and placed on the bed. He was about to leave to go back outside when she grabbed his wrist.

Wu had slowly walked back outside and sat, cross legged next to Kasai and Tanaka while Namiko was playing with one of her fans, moving it in a slicing motion to build her arm strength more.

"I wonder if Misako's okay still…" Wu brought his knees up and looked back at the doors.

Kasai laughed, "Oh no… Wu and Misako sitting in a tree; k-i-s-s-i-n-g," he sang like an immature child.

Wu blushed, "Well… soon I'm gonna ask her out!" Wu held his head up. "She likes me… I already can tell…"

Tanaka frowned, "While I enjoy your optimism Wu… she seems dangerously close to your brother for you two to be anything more than an older sister and younger brother…"

"But they've been friends since they were little and still are!" Wu waved it off. "I'm telling you she likes me…" he leaned back.

Kasai and Tanaka exchanged worry glances, afraid to tell him that it was mostly likely the opposite.

* * *

><p>After the others were done with training, they had free time before dinner. Masuta quietly opened Misako's door and found her sleeping with his son, tightly hugging. He frowned for a moment but closed the door again to leave them.<p>

Wu was coming though and the Spinjitsu Master bit his lip. He was on his way to check up on her. He didn't want Wu to be hurt, but he needed to accept reality if this was where their hearts lie.

Masuta stepped to the side and patted Wu on the head. The thirteen year old opened the door and froze.

His brother and Misako were waking up and did not notice the younger brother was even there at first. Wu coughed and they looked at him. "Are you okay?"

Misako swallowed and nodded, "Yes… thank you Wu…" she smiled. Her beautiful green eyes were still red and a little puffy though.

Wu's blue eyes lifted up to look at his brother's red eyes. "Glad to hear… I'll… just go then…" he shut the door quickly.

**The next chapter are gonna be like a 3 part adventure and I'm excited for that XD Le sigh... been a busy past few days for me, so I'm happy I can finally get some stuff up! :D **

**Thanks for reading :)**

**~Mar**


	11. Jealous

"I'm all ready!" Namiko smiled, her ankle healed and no longer in need of ace bandages for the last stages of healing.

The other five students were holding their own bags as Masuta stood in front of the gates. "Remember… this is a survival training I will not help you so don't bother sending any sos signals… I'll see you all in a month… okay?"

The six bowed and headed off to the deepest parts of the forests and mountains. "So… are we going to split or should we stay together?" Kasai looked around.

"I believe we should stick together," Tanaka said. Everyone respected his opinion now more than ever when they first met him. He may have been strange at first, but he seemed to fit in well enough and was easily competing for smartest with Misako.

By nightfall they lost themselves completely in the vast forests. "I'm going to start on making a shelter…" Misako started climbing a couple trees. "Someone cut that bamboo over there?" she pointed to the clusters.

"I'll do it!" Kasai jumped and grabbed his sword to cut reeds.

Wu climbed the tree with Misako and grabbed the rope, "I'll help weave and hang," he offered with a small smile.

Misako smiled, "Thank you Wu," she looked down, "Namiko, can you help with the reed cutting and weaving? Once we get this up, we can use the tarp for when it rains!"

Tanaka set out on his own to look for berries and fruit because they were starting to get hungry and were not allowed to bring any additional food. Garmadon looked down, "I'll get fire wood…" he turned around headed back.

Wu started making knots in the rope around the thicker branches. "You're really good at knots…" Misako's eyebrows went up, noticing.

"Thanks… hehe…" Wu looked away. He didn't want to tell her that he was up all night before learning camping tricks that would impress her. He was getting desperate at this point since he noticed her drifting dangerously close to his brother.

All they had to do was wait for the others so they climbed down and sat next to each other, "It's funny how I know you guys better than my own parents…" she closed her eyes, swinging her legs in the air.

"You don't need them… we're a family," Wu said.

She nodded and looked down, "Yea…" she hugged her knees to her body, remembering when Garmadon held her as she slept, fighting off her emotions.

Wu frowned when she looked away from him. "Well… uh…" he scratched the back of his head, "What do you want to do while we wait for the others to get back so we can finish?"

She shrugged and stood up, looking down at the blue eyed boy, "Come on," she held out a hand. "Why don't you show me those new moves you were doing at practice yesterday?"

Wu took her hand and pulled himself up, taking his stance, "I'll try not to knock you down," he smirked.

She shook her head and stood her own stance, "Sure Wu… but I think I'll knock you on your back," she laughed. She always found it cute how Wu was just centimeters shorter than her yet always talked a good game.

Wu started off in a run and did a flying kick. Misako went down on her knees, bending back so it just barely missed her. She rolled and got back up and turned around and started circling with Wu, "I'm waiting for you to actually try," she winked.

The blonde smiled and made the first move again, landing the hit in her shoulder, she grabbed his wrist and threw him to the side. Her foot got caught on a tree root and she went sailing forward, onto Wu, knocking him back. "Ow…" Wu coughed when he head hit his stomach.

She dizzily lifted her head and started laughing, "I did knock you down!"

"I did to you too!" the two started laughing.

Misako sat on him and folded her arms, "But I'm the one on top now". Wu tried to get out from under her and she smiled, kissing his cheek, "Aw, baby Wu can't get up," she joked and pinched his cheek.

"Aw come on!" he complained, smacking her hand away. Wu, out of nowhere, tackled her to the ground, "Now I win…" he grinned.

"Aw man… and here I am with a prize to give you…" she giggled.

Wu looked down and half smiled, quickly kissing her on the lips. She stopped her laughing and sat up, sitting next to him. The blonde felt a little proud of himself for doing that to her. The two chuckled together, leaning shoulder to shoulder.

Garmadon was the first to make it back; seeing everything from her lying on top of Wu to the kiss Wu gave her, "Sorry to interrupt…" he grimaced, throwing the wood on the ground.

Misako's smile faded when she saw his face. She stood up and helped the younger brother, "Oh come on, we were playing around," she placed her hands on her hips and looked at the wood on the ground. She started picking it up and eyed her friend, "But I guess the only person I can act like that with is you," the light brunette placed the wood in a pile.

"Whoa what's going on here?" Kasai came back with Namiko who was still weaving a couple of pieces of reeds for the roof. "Misako dealing out burns again? Who was it this time?"

Misako looked at Kasai and then Garmadon and Namiko laughed, "Oh my… being protective of his girlfriend again?"

Garmadon's face went red, "She is _not _my girlfriend," he pointed to the girl with the braid.

Tanaka came through the bushes as well with his bag, "You are lying, friend," he looked at the oldest ninja in training's face.

The older girl's eyebrows went up. Garmadon started glaring at Tanaka next, "How about you just shut up pretty boy," he snapped and stalked off to hide away for a little bit.

"Uh… we can start hanging the tarps and stuff for the shelter…" Namiko held out a small, crudely woven blanket of reeds. Misako took the stiff roof and started climbing back up the tree to tie it up. Kasai and Wu helped with the other corners.

Garmadon found a tree with thick, branches of leaves to hide him in as he sat, balled up, choking out what was supposed to be tears. _"What was that!? Why would she say that if she wasn't doing something with him?"_

**Who's ready for a three parter?! **

***crickets* **

**;-; I know... no one... **

**Wu was so not joking around Misako... and maybe she wasn't either... *waves arms in a mysterious anime fashion* we may never know. **

**Oh wait this is my fic... of course she doesn't! *hides in the tiny Garsako shipper corner of shame* **

**Thanks for reading, see ya guys around :3**

**~Mar**


	12. The Nature Wizard

It was getting late and Garmadon still was not back yet so Misako tried to find him in the dark forest. "Garmadon?" she whispered, trying not to stir up any sleeping wildlife.

"Up here…" she looked up quickly and saw his leg hanging off the limbs of the tree. She dug her fingers in the bark and pulled herself up to one of the highest branches where she found him sitting. "Sorry… I uh, ran off…" he looked away to wipe his eyes again.

"Well we finished the shelter without you…" she tossed him a peach, "Here… thought you'd be hungry," she smiled, Tanaka found all sorts of things deeper in the forest…"

Garmadon leaned back and bit into the sweet fruit, "Why do you think my dad makes us do these stupid things?" he wiped his mouth on his sleeve. He didn't want to talk about his reasons for running off.

The green eyed girl shrugged. It was a good question. "Well, I guess we have to learn how to survive on our own… what if something happens and we don't have a home to return to?" she looked down. "You know the monastery is everyone's home… even for Namiko and Tanaka who have family elsewhere…"

The two sixteen year olds looked up at the moon. It was almost totally full and the dark blue sky was sprinkled with silver stars. It lit up the dark forests beautifully, making their skin look white like ghosts.

"So… what made you so mad about what Tanaka said before you ran off…" she smiled and leaned against his shoulder playfully. "You really thought I was trying to do something with your brother?"

He looked away, "He's thirteen… it was a weird position I saw you in on him… and…" he folded his arms and brought his knees up more. "You kissed him… and he kissed you…"

She looked down before kissing his cheek, "You need to stop letting that anger of yours get the better of you… because… I don't know if I can be anything more than friends if you act like that…"

His red eyes seemed to glow in the dark when he looked at her. "What do you mean by that?" an ounce of hope inside him.

"Well Wu is awfully sweet and all… but…" she looked down. Garmadon leaned closer to her. "I always thought-"

Suddenly the tree branch they were on snapped. In midair, Garmadon wrapped his arms around her, letting her land on him instead. They both groaned when they tried to sit up. "What the hell was that about?" he angrily shouted at nothing.

The broken pieces of wood suddenly came to life in the shape of serpents. They scrambled to get to their feet and backed up against each other. "What's going on!?" Misako clung to the taller teen.

The red eyed boy looked down at the wooden snakes, "H-how the hell should I know!?" he swallowed. "I hate snakes…" he mindlessly touched the spot the snake bit him as a child.

"Who's in my forest?" a voice in the dark asked them. The stared wide eyed. "Well?! Who are you two!?"

Their throats felt dry, they were hoping it was Masuta playing some kind of joke on them but he was not the joking type. Misako swallowed before answering, "Misako Alexander…" her voice sounded shaky.

"Yea and I'm Garmadon… son of Masuta, the First Spinjitsu Master," he said a little more assertive than the shorter girl next to him. "And we got friends here with us, we're all ninja in training so you better leave us the hell alone my dad will beat your ass!"

"Masuta's son? I'm surprised he had any children…" a figure came out of the darkness, moonlight on him, "I am Cardinsto, the wizard of the forest".

"We need to find Wu and the others…" Misako whispered, gripping his hand.

The red eyed boy slowly nodded, "On the count of three…"

With a flick of his hand, the snakes stopped snapping at Garmadon and Misako. "You said there were others right? Take me there now".

"Like we would ever!" Misako stomped angrily.

Cardinsto snapped his fingers and the snakes hissed and snapped again. Garmadon retracted quickly behind Misako who sighed. "Fine…" she clicked her teeth together while looking back Garmadon angrily, she didn't like snakes either but he was downright terrified.

The wizard manipulated the wood to make cuffs for them; Garmadon didn't want him to know that he could break out of them in a matter of seconds though because he was already turning a plan over in his head.

They finally reached their campsite where a small fire was still going. Kasai was standing up, telling a scary story to Tanaka, Wu, and Namiko and seemed to be scaring them senseless.

The oldest teens walked in with lowered heads, "Hey guys…" Misako said.

The other four looked at the two, "Oh good you're back! Listen to this freaky story Kasai is telling us!" Wu excitedly said.

Namiko quickly nodded, "Yes! It's about a scary wizard who is rumored to live in these woods! It's all a myth though," she sat back against her log.

"Well… yea… about that being a myth…" the two held their hands up and the wizard shoved past them.

He laughed looking at the other four, "So these are Masuta's students…" he looked at Wu, "You must be the other son… you look exactly like him".

Wu swallowed, "Garmadon… what's going on?"

"I am the wizard in your friend's story… and I am very much real young boy". The wood snakes slithered around the others who backed up against each other. "Now Masuta and his wife will pay for crossing me!"

Wu lowered his head, "She's dead…"

"Ah, so that must be why he surrounds himself with such strange and weak children… just like Delilah was weak."

Garmadon clenched his teeth together and his red eyes glowed bright, "Don't you talk about my mother like that you dirt bag," with all his strength he broke the wood. He rubbed one wrist and glared back, "She controlled darkness and was stronger than you will ever know… and I'll beat you into the dirt if you talk about her like that again!"

Misako leaned over, "How can we stop him? We can't even use Spinjitsu…" She squeaked. Garmadon's eyes widened. "Now what!?"

"Oh… I uh… never got to that part…"

**Garmadon... just... why? Oh yea, because I wrote you to be like that (let's face it though, he would so pull stuff like that... be prepared for him to do some pretty damn stupid stuff in this story lol)**

**I seem to go throw phases and periods of changing what my favorite story to write for is... right now, it's a cross between Kill Garmadon and this hehe. **

**Thanks for reading! It means the **

**~Mar**


	13. The Duel with Nature

"You mean to tell me you don't have a plan!?" Misako shouted at. "Who does that!?" She hopped angrily, face to face with him.

Garmadon looked a little embarrassed. "Well… it is me we're talking about… right?" he looked back at the others. "Right?" everyone else nodded a little in agreement.

"ENOUGH!" Cardinsto shouted at them.

The brunette, with no better option, took his stance, "Okay tough guy… I'm just gonna… kick you in the face or something…" he muttered to himself.

"Ten bucks says he's gonna die…" Kasai side glanced, looking to the others.

Namiko shook her head quickly, "Nah… I got twenty bucks on him breaking something and going unconscious…"

Tanaka frowned, "Technically speaking, the stance isn't very good for fighting someone with magic powers-"

"Yea but it's not like we can actually use Spinjitsu yet, right?" Wu cut him off.

Misako just stood where she was, rolling her eyes. Garmadon looked at them from the corner of his eye, "Gee, thanks for your faith in me guys…" They all fell silent after he said that.

Wu leaned to Kasai's ear, "Fifteen says that he'll he's gonna miss and break his left leg". He whispered.

"WU!"

The use of Spinjitsu was a nice thought but in his sixteen years, Garmadon never came close to anything like that and neither had Wu or Misako. Tanaka himself was a rather fast learner but he also tried and failed.

"I'm waiting," Cardinsto held his arms out, "Try and hit me foolish boy, I'll even go easy on you!" He laughed, making the young man's blood boil.

Garmadon started off in a run, throwing a punch and the wizard stepped to the left. "Aw… so unbalanced… I can tell by your eyes…"

"Shut up!" Garmadon threw another one but the wizard took his staff and smacked him across the back, and he fell flat on his stomach.

He gasped for air and his back bone ached from the blow to the middle of his back. "Get up!" Misako hopped. She wasn't being a very good cheerleader right now but Garmadon's head was going so fuzzy he couldn't think of any sarcastic quips to through back.

"Yes please!" Wu shouted at him, nervously looking at the snakes around their feet.

"Working on it…" The older brother wiped his bloody nose and pushed himself up again. He cracked his knuckles angrily. "Second wind…" He went to run but then tripped over a group of tree roots that had suddenly appeared there. He twisted his body in a strange fashion.

Suddenly, something clicked and the spinning motion he made ignited a glowing, purple tornado around him. "What the-?" Cardinsto jumped back.

"No way…" Everyone's mouths dropped open.

Garmadon stopped and took a moment to register what went on, "What… w-what happened?" he blinked a couple of times, trying to see straight for his surroundings were spinning.

"You did Spinjitsu! Now can you please do it again?!" Misako was looking very skittish over the fact that he was losing.

He cleared his head and started off again, twisting, "Ninjag-GO!" he shouted. The purple tornado appeared again and knocked Cardinsto back against a tree. He opened his forest green eyes and looked at Misako, then waved his hand.

A snake slithered up, around her, fangs poised for cutting her neck. She stretched her head to the side, wanting to get away from the monster. Wu was about ready to spring into action, if his brother could do it, so could he. He wanted to save Misako; he wanted to be the hero.

As he went to move Misako screamed his brother's name instead, "Garmadon!" she squeezed her eyes shut and Wu's heart sank she didn't say his instead.

Namiko squeezed Wu's hand and shook her head. "Shh… not yet… you are too far away and not fast enough…"

"We must wait…" Tanaka nodded in agreement with the younger girl. "I will say when…" his gray eyes shut as he concentrated.

The wizard and the son of the Spinjitsu Master glared into the others' eyes. "You don't like snakes do you boy?" he asked. "I know why… like I said, I can see it in your eyes… Masuta or Delilah… they had blue eyes… I know why yours are different-"

"Shut the hell up old man," Garmadon seethed with anger when he looked at Misako who looked pretty scared having a snake hiss and try to bite her.

He smirked, "Then I guess you'll never know right? No doubt Masuta is keeping it a secret from you… not many know about… The Great Devourer's venom effects…"Garmadon's eyes widened when he said that. "Let me go and I'll tell you everything".

Garmadon looked down, thinking it over. His eyes flicked back up and he delivered the next neck kick, his foot connecting to his enemy's jaw.

Cardinsto was disabled and Garmadon stood, heavily breathing for a few more moments with his foot in the air.

"Okay now!" Tanaka shouted.

Kasai swung his sword around hard, chopping the wooden monsters to splinters. Wu tried to make his way to Misako but his brother got there first anyways. He broke the wood up with his small knife and Misako clung to him for dear life.

"I gotcha…" Garmadon kissed the top of her head.

A sudden gold light shined through the trees, blinding everyone who had nothing more than the light of the dying campfire.

When their vision cleared they saw the tall Master of Spinjitsu, "Now… I thought I saw something with my spirit smoke…" he looked at Cadinsto. He pointed a slender finger at the nature wizard. "You; you were to be banished to Hiroshi's Labyrinth… why are you here?"

"Found your brats and thought I'd get some revenge," Cardinsto laughed darkly. "I didn't know your oldest was cursed though…" Masuta's eyes widened and he looked back at Garmadon who was holding Misako tightly to him. "Young love… right?" He chuckled.

"Be gone wizard," Masuta snapped his fingers.

The wizard stood and looked at the master, "Okay then… but one day you won't be here to keep the peace… and I can return to cease Ninjago's advancements and let nature overgrow everything…"

"Wrong…" Masuta darkly said, "They will protect the people…" Without another word the wizard vanished into the dark woods again, leaving people in peace. The master's stance relaxed and he looked at the others, "Did he hurt any of you?"

Wu was sitting on the ground, arms hugging his knees in silence. He looked back at his brother and friend who were still clinging to each other.

"He's gone now Misako…" Garmadon smiled, seeing she was still squeezing him. She backed away a little and wiped her eyes and sat up on her knees and touched his face. "Misako?" he whispered.

Her emerald eyes watered over and pulled his face closer, sealing her lips with his. He was surprised at first but then enjoyed it. He ignored if the others were watching. Secretly they were but pretended not to.

He wrapped his arms tightly around her waist as she forced her kiss deeper. After their lungs begged for air they brushed foreheads. "I love you…" she whispered, shutting her eyes again.

Wu stared as his heart broke. Masuta sat next to him and rubbed his back, "Come son, I am taking you back to the monastery…" he stood back up, "Come, we are all going home…" he looked to the others. "Pack your things…"

It was mid morning when they got back. They all retired to their rooms to get some rest from the night before. Misako though sat on the bed with Garmadon in his room. Lips glue to each other as they lay together.

Kasai and Wu were sitting in his room on the floor, "Chicks… right?" Kasai looked over at his depressed friend. "Looks like Tanaka was right about them then…"

Wu just nodded. He didn't say anything since the two had kissed. The brunette sighed, "Well… no use moping around… I'm tired so I'm going to sleep for a week!" he looked back at Wu as he sat on his bed. "Wu? No offense… but can ya get out of my room?"

Wu blinked, "Oh… yea… sorry…"

**Who's ready for more drama?! Also just to.. ask... has anyone read the comic Stone Cold? Because many of the villains in this story were taken from there/inspired from there (some they didn't go into so I made some stuff up). But one was a big bad guy Wu had ti fight in the comic. (I think it was the longest battle in that book)**

**However this bad guy won't be in for another... uh three chapters maybe?**

**Thanks for reading ;) **

**~Mar**


	14. I Want You

Garmadon sat in the library, looking in an old book when his father walked in, "And what do you think you are doing in here Garmadon?" Masuta said sternly. "You are not allowed in here… and you know that-"

"I wonder why that is…" Garmadon glared, looking up from what he was reading and shut the book with a loud clap. "It's because you like to keep secrets…"

It came to the point where he was no longer intimidated by his father, probably because he was as tall as him now. "In the woods… Cardinsto told me about a Great Devourer and the venom infecting people…" he glared, "You didn't tell me something," he shoved the book at his father's chest, the page open where he was reading. "But I know now".

The Spinjitsu master read the page quickly and sighed, "I was hoping you wouldn't find out this way-"

"What way did you want me to find out then!?" the teenager shouted. "You and mom knew… you knew and you never told me a frikkin' thing!" he jabbed a finger at his father. Eyes pulsating with the crimson glow he had for the past eight years.

Masuta sighed and nodded, "I'm sorry son-"

"Don't call me that… don't you dare call me your son!" he yelled. "Wu knew before I even did about mom! You always favored Wu! You force so much responsibility on me only to turn around and pay attention to Wu! I hate you!"

He ran out. "Where are you going!?"

"AWAY FROM HERE!"

Misako and Namiko rolled their pants up, sticking their feet in the lake and lying back on the hot rocks, relaxing. "AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

The girls bolted upright. They recognized the yell though and Misako pulled her feet out of the water and followed the echoing sound of her new boyfriend's yells. "Be right back Nami…"

She found him busting his way through foliage in clean sweeps. She hid behind a tree, knowing he needed to vent because of whatever probably happened. Her guess; his father said something he didn't like.

The skin on his knuckles were peeling and bleeding as he punch into trees, making decent sized dents in them.

Garmadon finally lost all balance and fell on his back. He covered his face and shouted curses and indefinable words. Misako slowly stepped out and Garmadon looked to the side as he heard the crunch of leaves under her wet feet.

"Hey…" he said, voice cracking.

"You're drenched in sweat…" she wiped his face by his hair line a little. He nodded. She lay down next to him in the dirt. "What's wrong?" she took his hand.

He squeezed his eyes shut, "I found… my father was keeping secrets from me…" he hissed through his clenched teeth. "Again…"

Misako was not surprised by this of course. Over the years the father and son and grown farther and farther apart. "What… how bad was it?" she swallowed.

"Oh nothing important…" he scoffed, "Only that I was bitten by a cursed snake that put evil in my blood!" he shouted. He was trying to get up and she pulled him back by his belt. "If you want to take back what you said about loving me last night; I under-"

"Shut up!" she smacked his shoulder. "You think a little snake venom is gonna change my feelings?"

He looked up, "Uh… yea…" he sounded sarcastic. "Why wouldn't you? My brother has a crush on you… you go try and work things out with him… you two could be very happy together…" he started raising his voice again.

"I want you…" she whispered in his ear. "I think I always did…" she kissed him quickly. "I was just afraid to tell you…" they shared another, longer one. "I didn't know why…I just was…"

"Misako!?" Namiko called out. The two opened their eyes and sighed. They should get back, or else Masuta would send out the other three boys to look for them.

**Ah temper tantrums... I feel ya Garmadon... I feel ya... I wish I could make dents in trees though... I'm not that strong sadly... **

**Thank you kindly for reading :) I've been buzzin all day because everyone keeps making me Garmadon or Garmadon/Misako art for my birthday and I'm just fangirling all day... (I'm officially 17! ayayayay...)**

**See ya around with some possible other updates :) **

**~Mar**


	15. Cold

The snow was starting to pile up on the stone courtyard, it was only a week until Christmas and the Namiko and Misako were lighting the fireplace and some candles to decorate the monastery a bit.

"Seen Garmadon?" Wu looked around as he came out of the bathroom.

Misako looked out the window and smiled, "He's… practicing…"

Wu's eyebrows rose and he looked outside, "What weirdoes…" His mouth dropped when he saw his brother sparring with Tanaka in the snow. "They're barefoot too!"

The girls looked out the window, "We know… isn't it amazing how resilient they both are?" Namiko sighed with a smile watching Tanaka. Both boys looked dead serious and tense as they sparred in the twenty degree weather, maybe even colder.

Kasai looked out too and traced Namiko's gaze, "Pfft, I could do anything Tanaka can…" he said it more to Namiko than to Wu or Misako though.

The two older boys walked in, trailing melting snow behind them. Misako got him a towel to dry the wet snow off of him and to warm up. She kissed his nose. "I was about to make some coco… want some?"

"Yea," Garmadon smiled and kissed her quickly back.

"Excited that your nineteenth is coming up in a few weeks Misako?" Masuta walked in.

Misako slowly nodded, "I guess so…" she held sadness in her eyes though.

She always sat by the phone or rushed to get mail first, hoping her parents would send word soon. The last thing she heard was in August and now it was the middle of December.

Finally, as she went to boil the milk, the phone did ring and she scrambled to pick it up, the others gathered around her eagerly, excited for her, "Hello? Momma?" she hopefully asked.

_"Yes are you… Misako?" _

"Uh… yea… who's this?" she curiously asked. Everyone looked puzzled when she frowned.

_"Then… I'm so sorry… your parents' bodies were found… they caught frostbite when they were buried in the snow… I'm so sorry miss…"_

Misako eyes widened as she started shaking. "Mimi?" Wu whispered. "Misako, what happened?"

_"Hello?"_

"Yes… I… I…" she stuttered, trying to find words. "Thank you…" she hung up the phone slowly and stood up again, hugging herself.

"What?" Kasai wanted her to answer them.

"They're dead…" she barely whispered it. "Both of them…" she looked up, her eyes turning red. "They caught frostbite while in the mountains…" she swallowed. "I am never going to see my mom and dad again… ever…"

Namiko hugged her friend tightly, "So sorry sweetie…" Misako started sobbing.

"At least… well, at least you didn't know them that well…" Kasai looked down.

Garmadon knocked the black haired teen in the side of the head, "Stop making my girlfriend feel worse yuo idiot!" he hissed. "Mimi… it's okay…" he switched out with Namiko. "Remember what I said?"

"I know… but… it still hurts!" she buried her face in his robes.

"I am going to make some tea…" Namiko quietly looked down. "Help me?" she looked at Wu who nodded and Kasai and Tanaka followed the other two out as well.

A quiet Christmas came and went and Misako's nineteenth birthday came two days later which was not any better. The funeral was held the day before; of all days to have it.

That was a miserable, rainy day and Misako looked even paler in her black coat. The whole time she was squeezing Garmadon and Wu's hands because she refused to cry anymore than she did the week prior to finding out.

She hid away in her room and no one dared to go inside when they got back, not even Garmadon. She didn't want anyone to see her cry, even though she denied it. Everyone could hear her hiccups and sobs into her pillow when they tried to listen.

The night of her birthday, Garmadon was surprised to find her in his doorway. "What is it?" He asked gently, half asleep.

"I can't sleep…" she croaked. She wiped her eyes, "Can I… can I come in?" she looked down and wiped her nose.

He didn't answer, he just moved over so she could climb in with him. She lay on top of him though and started kissing him, hands sliding under his shirt. He noticed she wasn't wearing much clothes too. Her tank top barely covered her underwear.

"I love you…" tears dripped down her cheeks.

"I love you too…" he nuzzled her.

She bit her lip, "Can… can we-" looking down, blushing.

"Yes-"

He could barely answer her before she pressed her body against him and straddled him across his waist gently. He looked at her red face and smiled a little. He flipped over so she was under him. "Remember to be quiet…" he whispered in her ear before kissing her jaw line.

"Thank you…" she breathed and started slipping her clothes off under his blankets.

* * *

><p>When Garmadon opened his eyes he saw Misako's bare back facing him. He smiled a little, happy to know he didn't just dream the night before. "Are you awake?" he gently nudged her shoulder.<p>

"Yea…" she said in a raspy voice, turning on her side, hiding under the comforter still. Her face was pink and looked tired still as she kissed his nose. "I should… find my way back into my room… before your father sees us… like this…"

"I don't care…" he swallowed. "I'm not afraid of him…" he hugged her. The room was cold but their bodies were warm against each other. "Hey… get dressed… let's get out of here for a few hours…"

She nodded and found her pajamas on the floor and picked them up, slipping into her room across the way. Garmadon found his pants and slipped them on quickly. He scratched the back of his head and smiled a little at the vague memories of last night.

**I am unashamed! ((and yes Namiko was crushing on Tanaka in case you were wondering))**

**I am so excited for the next few chapters! Anybody can guess which villain from Stone Cold will be showing up? Anyone?**

**Oh yea, hardly anyone reads this story... ;~; I forgot**

**Thank you if you did read this and did not review to make your presence known to me though! (I do that a lot too so don't feel bad XD)**

**~Mar**


	16. Don't Say a Word

"What do you mean?" Namiko's covered her mouth. "You mean… Misako; you guys-"

"SH!" Misako snapped as she looked back at the doorway. "We don't want Masuta knowing… and I worked hard to keep my mouth shut for two months because Garmadon will get embarrassed." She bit her lip. "Masuta thinks we'll get married and do it… but… I was so upset and…" she wiped her runny nose. "I wasn't thinking… and I had to tell someone!"

"Pfft, ya; no shit Sherlock…" Namiko half laughed half scoffed. "You had the best head on your shoulders than all of us combined… well, except for Tanaka maybe…"she trailed off, frowning.

"Well at least we're adults…" Misako muttered, continuing to chop up vegetables. "We can make our own choices…"

The two heard footsteps and were relieved for it to be Garmadon. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her on the cheek. "Well hello… you seem to be in a better mood…" he smiled, seeing she was looking better.

"Well… you… helped…" she winked a green eye. The other, younger girl covered her mouth and giggled a little.

Garmadon's face turned red, "Please tell me you did not tell her…"

"Oh she spilled everything alright," the sixteen year old punched him lightly in the shoulder. "Good for you Romeo…" she laughed.

"Stop what you are doing, there's trouble in a small town north of here… You all are going to investigate…" Masuta announced.

Namiko hopped, excited, "A mission all on our own?"

He nodded and smiled at her enthusiasm, "Yes Nami; I trust in all of you…"

"What should we be looking for then?" Tanaka asked. "What sort of trouble?"

The very old master waited until Wu and Kasai made it into the living room. "People have said that some fall asleep and haven't been waking up… it's gone on for several days. Most thrash about and have nightmares so you must wake them up and get to the bottom of it…"

The six packed a small bag each and they set off down the mountain to the small town in the north. It was February and the cold was dying down more as spring was almost there.

Kasai looked at the map he packed as they trekked along, "We should be there by tomorrow…" he looked ahead at the others. "It's a little town called Yumei…"

"Then I suggest we all make it to the base of the mountain before night and continue on in the morning," Tanaka pointed to the mountain miles off.

Everyone half groaned together as they dragged their feet along the dirt path. As they walked Misako was the first to grow tired. "I need a rest…" she gave in and sat down on the nearest rock. "Just give me moment…"

She pulled out her water bottle. "Normally you're one of the last give in…" Kasai sat at the base of her rock seat.

Misako nodded in agreement as she rubbed her lower back, "Yea… I just… my back's been hurting…" she wiped her brow. "Haven't been feeling that great…" she frowned and packed her bottle back in her bag, nervously looking at Garmadon.

"Okay… I think I can move on again," she sighed, getting back on her feet after a couple of minutes.

It was dark out when they got the fire going. There were three small tents they pitched with some blankets in Namiko's bag. Garmadon was the first to head in and had called a tent for himself because Wu, Kasai, and Tanaka were fine with sharing one together anyways. Namiko and Misako planned on sharing one.

However, when everyone started sleeping, Misako snuck out and found Garmadon still awake and almost half expected to see her crawl in. "Knew you'd show up," he smiled.

She tired looked at him and laid down next to him. "I just hope I'll feel fine tomorrow…" she wiped her eyes and yawned. "We have to figure out what's going on and everything…" she nervously looked at him. "I know we should be sleeping… but there's… something I wanted to talk to you about earlier but then we had to leave and this is our only time alone…"

"Well that's not a good way to begin a conversation…" he rolled his red eyes. "But fine, what was it that we needed to be all alone for?"

She blushed and looked down. The campfire was dulling out and gave them a little light from outside. "I seriously do not know how to say this…" she swallowed and then looked him in the eye, "Garmadon… I think I'm pregnant".

He pretty much jumped upright banging his head on a low hanging branch that was leaning against their tent, "OW!" he rubbed his head. "I'm sorry… what!?"

She covered her face, "I think I'm pregnant…"

He laid flat on his back, wiping his face which started sweating. "Oh shit… oh shit oh shit…" he kept saying.

"Something wrong Garmadon?" they froze when they heard Wu's voice.

Garmadon coughed, "I'm fine Wu! I… kicked my… flashlight?" he thought up on the fly.

"Oh… okay…"

"Smoooooth…" Misako lifted her head with a smile.

He shot her a look, "Oh shut up…" he snapped back at her. "How… how do you know!? Did you check?! What do you mean you think!?"

"You know… there ARE signs that women know…" she frowned. "I missed my monthly…" she looked away, "twice… And then I think it's morning sickness…"

"Oh gods… what are we going to do!? If my dad finds out…"

"I'll say I was the one who wanted to…" she smiled and lay on top of him. "Because I love you so much…"

Garmadon looked at the shadows of the other tents through the fabric, "gonna tell them?"

She shook her head, "Well… Nami can keep a secret well enough but… I don't want to… not until we get home…" she rested her head on his chest and twined her fingers around his.

He seemed rather calm but she could feel his heart pounding faster than her steadier one as she lay on top of him. The two closed their eyes and figured that all they should is get whatever it was over with that they had to do in the strange town.

Tanaka was the first one to get up and start packing his own things, ready to move out. Namiko followed out of her own tent and knew where Misako ended up sleeping.

"Morning Tana," she stretched her arms up and rolled her head back. "Want me to kick everyone out of bed?"

"Well… you can be gentle about it…" he smiled.

The brown eyes girl smiled back, "Wu? Kasai? Wakey wakey!" she stuck her head in. The two boys jumped out of sleep and groaned.

Wu pulled the small blanket over his head, "Five more minutes!"

"Give me that blanket!" Kasai pulled it on his side of the tent. "You said we'd share!"

"I lied," Wu tried to tug it back sleepily.

"Never realized a nice kid like you could be so grouchy in the morning!" Kasai snapped.

Namiko shook her head and laughed as they argued and she slowly stepped up to Misako and Garmadon's, "Don't tell me you two… getting it on again?" she giggled as the two slowly woke up from their cuddling.

"Yea…" Misako waved her hand. "Just shoo Nami… we'll be out in a minute…"

Garmadon opened one eye and kissed her cheek, placing a hand over her stomach, "Morning beautiful…" he kissed her neck.

She squeaked a little and looked up at him. He sat up first, pulling her up in a sitting position she looked pale and tired. "Tell them I'm going to the bathroom…" she stood up. "I'm gonna throw up…" she went out the back side, covering her mouth.

He smiled and left the tent to see the other's folding their supplies up and started on his own. "Where did Misako go?" Wu asked curiously.

"Uh… had to take a leak…" the older brother lied for her, mindlessly folding the blanket from inside the tent.

The others raised an eyebrow and looked at each other, "Something… on your mind," Namiko smiled.

"No…" Garmadon sighed and pulled his bag from inside and started tearing the tent tarp down, wishing they weren't so questioning. He still felt eyes on him.

"Okay because it looks like there is something on your mind…" Tanaka shrugged and they all went back to what they were doing.

"Yea… I mean… I'm sure you'd trust us with any secret…" Kasai nodded, "Being we're your friends and can hold in something precious and dear…"

"Like frikking with his girlfriend," Namiko giggled. Wu's ears perked up when she giggled that and he saw his brother's face turn bright red.

"Okay for one, she did it to me okay? I … uh… just let her…" he lowered his head again as the others laughed but Wu.

The four remained snickering at his embarrassment and he tried to see if his girlfriend was coming back yet because this was getting awkward and nerve racking. She of all people should know how group situations were for him.

The nineteen year old still felt their eyes on him and lifted his head and sighed, "I got Misako pregnant…" he groaned. "Are you all happy?"

The quiet laughter ceased. He looked back at their wide eyes. "Uh… nice joke…" Kasai half laughed.

Garmadon looked mad, "Oh what? You're telling me that I couldn't-"

"Garmadon, you hate kids, couldn't if you tried," Kasai folded his arms.

They heard rustling and the brunette jumped and looked back seeing his girlfriend, "Couldn't what?" she smiled and kissed him quickly. The others were staring at her. "Uh… something wrong…"

"Is it a boy or a girl!?" Namiko jumped excitedly.

Misako's hand clutched the fabric over her stomach, going pale again, "What the hell did you tell them?" she looked up and glared at Garmadon who was whiter than normal as well. "Garmadon!?"

"They forced me!" he blocked himself from one of her high kicks.

"Ya right!" she went to slap him, aiming for his face, "You promised we wouldn't tell them!" Sometimes he wished she wasn't trained like him for sixteen years.

His wrists blocked the blow and he bit his lip, "DAMN WOMAN!" he bent over, "For a pregnant woman you're moving just fine!" he sat on his bottom and looked up. She stood menacingly over him.

Her emerald eyes flicked up at her friends, "Don't you dare tell Masuta when we get back!" she pointed. "I will beat your asses back to where to wherever you came from!" She eyed Tanaka, Namiko, and Kasai.

They all quietly nodded, afraid of Misako now more than they ever had.

She straightened up and folded her arms, "Now come on…" she sighed and picked her bag up. "I want to get this over with…"

**Life lesson #1? Never screw with Misako, your life will depend on it XD **

**Soooooo... you all knew that the end of the last chapter would set up for this right? Haha but of course... what more could possibly happen? I have at least 43 chapters total and still more to come... I may edit and combine stuff though... **

**So people are falling asleep? I wonder what villain it could be... lol**

**Thank you fr reading :) **

**~Mar**


	17. The Dreamer

When the six reached Yumei they were greeted by a young man. "Are you Masuta's students?" he quickly asked them. "I'm Thomas".

The six nodded, "Yes… we came as fast as we could," Tanaka bowed. "What is the problem?"

He sighed, "Follow me…" he started walking.

It wasn't as advanced as Ninjago City, but there were cars and brick and cement buildings. "Almost a week ago… people stopped waking up… at first we thought they were dead… but they were still breathing… it started with a couple… and now… almost the whole town is asleep…" he closed his eyes.

"And… it just started happening?" Kasai looked a little alarmed, looking at the quiet houses.

Thomas shrugged, "Yea… pretty much…"

Tanaka frowned and looked around, "Well… I think we should… spend a night or two here… what do you think?" he looked back at the others.

They all quickly shook their heads 'no' and Garmadon was worriedly clinging to his girlfriend and child in her. Tanaka smiled, "Well then I guess we should an inn, glad we all are on the same page".

"I hate you… you know that?" Garmadon frowned.

Wu walked alongside his brother, "You think we're gonna be put into an eternal sleep or something?"

"Possibly…" Misako muttered, toying with a loose thread on the end of her sweater.

As soon as night came, everyone but Tanaka was ready for bed. "I am so not doing this…" Kasai and Wu folded their arms as they sat on the cots.

Tanaka smiled, "Well you can't stay up all night you know…"

"I bet I can stay up later than all of you!" Kasai laughed. Namiko rolled her eyes.

Misako lay down next to Garmadon, "Might as well sleep… right?" she whispered.

"What if only one wakes up?" he nervously asked.

"Well let's hope that doesn't happen…" she pulled the cord on the lamp, "Well… Good night…"

It took a while for the others to drift off because of their nerves. Eventually the dead silence lulled them asleep.

Wu opened his bright blue eyes and found himself sitting on a cloud, "… this doesn't feel like a dream…" he looked at his hand. He pinched his hand. "Weird…" he felt it a little. "Garmadon? Tanaka?" he stood up, "Kasai and Namiko? Misako? Anybody?"

His voice seemed to echo. "Wonder what will happen if I jumped…" he looked over the edge of the cloud. He frowned, "Well…" he took a couple steps back and jumped.

He opened his eyes and it looked like he was sitting back in his room at home. He scratched his head, "Huh… did not see that coming…"

"Someone here?" It was Namiko. She ran around the corner. "Wu…" she breathed. "What's going on?"

"Where're the others?" Wu asked her.

The brown haired girl shrugged, "I wouldn't know… I was… just thinking about how much I wanted to go home… end this silly trip and… well, I ended here…"

"This is weird…" Wu chews the inside of his cheek, trying to process what was happening to them. "Are dreams connected or something?"

_"__If you want to see your friends, think of them… it is your dream…"_

The two looked around and then at each other. "Well… okay…" Namiko closed her eyes and tried to concentrate.

Their surroundings changed again and they were on a road, the sky was dark violet overhead, starless. "So… where are they?"

"There you are!" Tanaka and Kasai ran to them first.

Namiko smiled in relief and ran to them. Kasai held his arms opened but she ran past him, "I was so scared!"

"Well, we're all together…" Tanaka accepted her hug with a smile. "Well… except for Garmadon and Misako… where are they?" he frowned.

Kasai had folded his arms and was grumbling as they started walking along the road. "Well… I hope those two will be okay…"

"MISAKO!" Garmadon shouted as loud as he could. He was frantically trying o find her. He closed his eyes, "Come on… be here… you gotta be somewhere…"

_"__Itty bitty ninja… lost your girl?" _

The red eyed ninja stood upright and looked around, startled, "Who's there?" he wished he had a sword. One materialized in his hands. He looked more shocked. "How-?"

_"__It's your dream…"_

"Show yourself," he demanded.

_"__Oh okay…"_

In front of Garmadon a gargoyle like creature appeared to him. "I am Gahrann the Dreamer…" he mocked bowed. "You must be one of the six brats that Masuta sent…"

"Yea…" he held the sword out. "Where's my girlfriend?" he snapped.

"Oh you mean her?" He made her appear next to him. "I want you and your friends to leave…"

Misako grimaced. "If this is a dream, then I can do this!" she shouted. "Ninja-GO!" her silver tornado of Spinjitsu knocked the gargoyle back.

"Ninja!? You all must have mastered the art…" Gahrann spread his gargoyle like wings. "I've dealt with the master enough times to counter it".

The two back up together, not knowing how to deal with such a monster. If they couldn't wake up or at least find the others, they probably wouldn't last very long.

**I rather liked Gahrann in the comic :3 He was an interesting villain so I figured he'd be the next to be use! :D **

**Thank you for reading :)**

**~Mar**


	18. Six Little Ninja

"There they are!" Wu was at the head of the group. "Whoa…" he looked at Gahrann.

"He's the one who's making people sleep…" Tanaka observed. "Dream Gargoyle…"

"What's that?" Wu looked incredibly alarmed by the sound of it.

"Oh he's a smart one," Gahrann nodded with a bit of a chuckle. "Well done… but do you know why I am doing this?" he tested them.

Kasai jumped ahead though, "Yea we do! You're obviously like a dream eater right? You get powers from nightmares…"

Wu nodded, "Yea but we're not having any nightmares so ha!" he laughed.

Everyone slapped their foreheads at Wu's stupidity to say that in front of the enemy. "Oops…" Wu smacked his forehead as well". The landscape changed again and it looked they were under the water, but they could breathe.

"Let the nightmares begin!" Gahrann laughed darkly.

_Six little ninja, swimming for their lives_

_One flailed and drowned_

_And then there were five_

They all looked around. Namiko suddenly grasped her throat, bubbles coming out of her mouth, unlike the others. She tried to push herself and swim up but couldn't. Kasai went to touch her but his hand went through.

"What's happening!?" Wu tried to grab Namiko as well, hand going through her. She tried reaching out to the four boys and girl, one hand still over her mouth.

Kasai squeezed his eyes shut, "Nami can't swim! She's afraid of drowning!"

Namiko was missing from the group and they all started feel scared.

_Five little ninja along the shore_

_One was buried alive by sand_

_And there were four_

They all looked at Kasai who lowered his head. "This one… is for me… I'm claustrophobic and I'm afraid of being buried alive…" he coughed. "Oh and quicksand…" he sighed as he felt himself sinking. "Oh gods I'm sinking!"

Wu scrambled to try and pull his best friend out and everything shifted again.

"I am getting tired of this!" Garmadon yelled. "Come on you coward! I'll beat your face in when I see you again!"

Gahrann laughed again.

_Four little ninja in the cold wind breeze_

_One was frostbitten_

_And then there were three_

Tanaka started shivering and the others looked at him. "Aren't you guys cold?"

They looked at one another and shook their heads, "Tana…" Misako touched his hands. He felt cold as ice. Garmadon pulled her back abruptly.

He shook his head, "I was always afraid to go outside when I was little… I was afraid if I got lost, I'd die in the cold…" he started turning blue. "I do not know what is next… be ready…" He looked at Garmadon, "I have a feeling… he is saving you for last…"

Garmadon's red eyes widened. "Wait! Why?"

_"__Enough of this, it's getting sappy now!" _Gahrann shouted. _"Hope you're ready for this!"_

_Three little ninja together through and through_

_One felt invisible and grew jealous_

_And then there were two_

Wu lowered his head and turned away from his brother and friend. "Wu…" Misako touched his shoulder. "What does he mean by that?"

The blonde slowly turned around. "I am…" he looked at his older brother and swallowed. "I'll say it… I want to be you… maybe not the whole cursed part…" he trailed off. He looked at Misako sadly. "But… I love you Misako… but neither of you really accepted my presence… I always felt like the third wheel…"

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" she went to take his hand but couldn't grasp it as he started fading into the darkness.

"I tried… but you know me… can't talk… only try to flirt with no success…" he looked at the two of them. "Beat that guy into dust…" he smiled before he faded. "You better keep her out of trouble…" he pointed at Misako and his older brother slowly nodded.

_Two little ninja with love like hotter than the sun_

_But fate played a cruel trick _

_And then there was one_

"Just stay with me…" Garmadon held her close to him. "I'm not gonna let you go…"

She quickly nodded, "I'm not moving…" she grabbed his shirt sleeve. "I'm never letting go…"

_"__Well you two are boring…" _Gahrann chuckled. _"All good things must end when one rises and the other sets"_

Misako's hands flew to her stomach. Garmadon wrapped his arms tighter around her too. They didn't know if dying in a dream could affect them in real life

_"__And yes, when I'm done with the last of you two, I'll have enough energy again to use my powers in the real world"._

"What a disgusting leech…" Misako spat.

Gahrann chuckled, _"I see you are so protective over her…" _His glowing eyes looked down at her hand over her stomach. _"Ah… okay… I see now… well… fate played a cruel trick… and then there was one…" _

The world around them turned black and Garmadon found himself alone, holding nothing but himself as he sank to his knees.

_One little ninja was left all alone_

_His heart was turned black _

_And then there were none_

**I was just dabbling and writing junk and the rhyme thing seemed to fit and stuff so I was like "Hey! Imma use that! Gahrann seems like the type of villain to do that :D" and yea then I decided to name this one well... six little ninja...**

**Thanks for reading :)**


	19. Fighting Sleep

If he was falling, it didn't feel like it. _"Is this still the dream? Or did we all really die?"_

He didn't want to think about the others though. He wished they never went on this stupid mission. Wu, Kasai, and Namiko still didn't even know Spinjitsu yet, but then again, what good was that do them? This wasn't the real world.

_"__This is my dream…" _he tried to convince himself, "Gahrann!" he shouted. "I challenge you to a battle!" Time seemed to freeze around him.

_"__Good, he's listening"._

He smirked, "If I win, you let go of everyone… let us wake up!"

Gahrann appeared, "What if I win?"

He rolled his eyes, "I don't know! What do you want? What do Dream Gargoyles want?"

The winged creatures folded his arms, "Well then… how about I kill you?"

The teenager swallowed. He thought it over for a moment and nodded, "Deal…" As long as Misako and their baby would be okay, then he'd risk it.

"Oh and why not let your friends watch as I kill you?" He snapped his fingers and the other five appeared, the blackness melting into what looked like the town square.

"Garmadon!" Misako jumped from the ground and squeezed him. "Oh my gosh, I thought we died…"

He nodded, "Yea… I did too…" he looked at the others who seemed fine. "But… I did something… stupid…"

"You?" Wu laughed. "Nooo," he sarcastically said.

The older brother glared at the blonde who shut up right away. He gently nudged his girlfriend back and looked at Gahrann, "Okay… let's do this then…" he popped a couple of his knuckles and took a stance.

"Remember that this is still a dream you can do anything you can dream!" Tanaka told him before the duel began.

Garmadon was still unsure though. He held his hand open and found the sword he wanted in it, "Okay… guess that wasn't so hard…" he stood, ready.

Gahrann had a mace appear in his hand and he swung it. The ninja skidded back and tried to block the attack or to at least smack it away. He knew that the gargoyle was messing with his vision because his head felt like it was spinning.

He should have known he wouldn't play fair. "Giving up already?"

Misako watched them go back and forth, looking incredibly worried. Wu frowned and put an arm around her. She looked at the hand on her shoulder and sighed, leaning against him. "Come on brother!"

"Are you guys good for anything but just telling me that?"

Tanaka stood up and started walking towards them. Garmadon was down and Gahrann was ready to strike him when the black haired ninja slid in and a shield appeared in his grasp.

Gahrann was taken aback and the young man dressed in lavender and gray spun, an off white Spinjitsu tornado smacking their foe against the wall. Tanaka looked down at Garmadon and extended a hand to him.

Garmadon took it and nodded, heavily breathing, "Thanks…"

"You are welcome…" the grayed eyed ninja looked to the others, "He won't play fair… and I'm not going to let anybody die… life or dream…"

"I'll stay here with Misako… go…" Wu looked at Kasai and Namiko who sprung into action.

They all took turns, coming after Gahrann and switching out. Their regular clothes changed to ninja robes and weapons flying in and out of their hands.

Namiko's red, steel edged fans screeched on Gahrann's metal rod. Kasai switched out and threw a couple of knives.

Garmadon and Tanaka willed a few sets of shurakins in their hands and used the projectiles. Namiko charged and started her spin like how she had watched the other teenagers perform back home. A perfect, ruby energy tornado appeared around her body.

"Way to go!" Kasai lightly punched her in the shoulder. The smaller girl looked proud that she had mastered the art after years of practice.

The four overwhelmed the gargoyle monster until he tried flying away but Garmadon grabbed his ankle and forced him down, slamming him into the pavement, "You bastard…" he seethed. "I swear when I wake up, I'm going to find your physical form and tear you apart…"

"Let's be reasonable…" he swallowed.

"There is no reasoning… we won did we not?" Tanaka and Kasai held two swords at his throat.

The enemy groaned in annoyance, "Well then… I suppose I will let everyone out…" he looked away, "not to mention I need to hide from Masuta when he finds out about this!" he muttered worriedly.

Everything disappeared and when their six sets of eyes opened, they were staring at the ceiling. They quickly sat up, trying to register their surroundings.

"How long were we asleep?" Wu held his head.

Tanaka frowned and got up and looked at the window. He clicked his tongue, "I'd say…" he paused, "Three days…"

"What!?" Kasai jumped up, feeling weak in the legs. "Yea… maybe…" He wiggled his toes, legs tingling from being asleep.

Namiko moved her loose strands of hair to the side, "How come we're all fine? We're not starving or more boney?"

"Possibly… Gahrann has the ability to stall things like that? Remember how he said that he could affect our physical bodies?" Misako leaned back against her pillows as Tanaka looked out the windows to see if anybody was stirring in the houses. She nervously looked down at her stomach, hoping the baby would be okay.

"I think the town is waking up…" Wu looked out as well, seeing people quickly emerging from their houses and looking around, dazed.

"So… we didn't catch Gahrann… but the town woke up… is this a win or fail?" Namiko crossed her legs on the bed.

Garmadon shrugged, "We're alive and helped the town so screw whatever my dad has to say about that…" he forced himself up and picked his girlfriend up in his arms. "We're all still alive… and that counts for something…"

**Uuugh I hate fight scenes... I think I did better in Kill Garmadon than this scene XD Hehe, oh well though I did my best ;) **

**I've been combining chapters like crazy because some are just way too short to stand alone and some chapters are gonna be like... 5/6 pages XP**

**Thanks for reading :) **

**~Mar**


	20. Decision and Consequence

Masuta's blue eyes opened when he heard the sound of the gates opening and then closing. He stood up from his seat in the library and came out to see his students had returned.

"Where have you all been? It has been almost a week!" he looked partially relieved to see they looked okay. "Why didn't you try calling? Sending a letter? Anything!"

Tanaka was the first to bow, "We have succeeded master. The one stirring up trouble was a gargoyle called "Gahrann the Dreamer"… he put us under as well for about three days…"

"Yea and then Garmadon thought he could make a deal and if he lost he'd get killed!" Kasai lightly punched Garmadon in the shoulder. The red eyed nineteenth year old narrowed his eyes and the black haired kid backed off.

"Gahrann!?" Masuta went back to that. "His people guard people's dreams… but it seems he went rogue and started dream eating to gain power… you are lucky to come back with your lives in tact… Three days is nothing compared to how long he could have kept you there…"

Misako mindlessly palmed her stomach and looked down, "Masuta… there's something…" she looked at Garmadon and swallowed, "We… we want to talk to you about … something important…"

The others looked at the two like they were walking to their deaths. It's exactly what it felt like as their heavy footsteps traveled up the stairs, across the deck, and down the hall in the study room. How were they going to explain this one? They had to tell him sometime anyways, he would eventually notice.

The four slowly followed behind, hoping to catch a word or two.

"Something is obviously bothering you… so tell me what it is…" the tall master stood, waiting patiently for what they wanted to talk about.

The pale faces of the nineteen year olds looked at one another and then back, "I'm pregnant…" Misako wiped her eye, "And Garmadon is the father…" she swallowed, looking at her feet. "I… I just found out about a week ago… just before we set out to Yumei to fight Gahrann…"

Masuta had an unreadable expression on his face. It started wracking Garmadon's nerves to the point where it was shown on his pale face. "We don't regret it…" he squeezed her hand.

"It was me…" Misako looked down. "The… the night of my birthday… I went in and asked if he would…"

Masuta folded his hands together in front of him, looking at his son with expectation, "And you agreed?"

"I love her and I don't regret anything…" He pulled her closer, "So if you're gonna scold and punish me… we'll leave… we'll live to the city or whatever… but I'm not going to stick around…" he started shaking. "Not if you're going to treat me like a child…"

"I allowed you two to… _date_… but this is something else…" Masuta shook his head.

Garmadon was about to respond but he paused, staring at his father, "I'm sorry… _what?_"

"Garmadon…" Misako whispered.

He brushed her behind him. "No no no… you _allowed_ us to date?" he started sarcastically laughing, "I'm gonna be twenty, I've been a legal adult… you can't control me like how it use to be… no, once I hit eighteen, we dated on our own… I didn't need your _permission _to love my girlfriend…"

Wu, Kasai, and Namiko's ears were pressed to the door as they attentively listened to the argument brewing between the father and son. Tanaka walked down the hall to find them there and shook his head with a sigh.

"It is rude to eavesdrop…" he told the younger students.

"Shh!" Kasai hushed.

Tanaka rolled his gray eyes and gave in, standing above Kasai and listened in as well.

"So what you're saying is… you… you who are the most ignorant, childish man I've ever seen, would be the father to that baby?"

"Just like you to think I can't accept consequences…"

"Well that's because you can't… you never could… I try to be honest and tell you consequences and like a little boy you run away, screaming and crying and breaking things…"

Misako silently sat in the corner, covering her face as they went at it, back and forth, and getting louder with each comeback.

"You know what? Screw this! Screw you! You never paid attention to me and suddenly you want to be involved in my love life? You like Misako anyways!"

His father looked at him in his red eyes, "Exactly… I don't want her to be put in harm's way…"

"Why would I ever hurt her?!" he gestured to her. "She is the only thing that's kept me sane my whole life!"

"You're blood Garmadon!" the blonde man with the long braid shouted louder than anyone ever heard in probably a hundred years or more, "You were bitten by a cursed snake and you have no idea what you could become!"

The brunette straightened up more, still glaring, "This isn't your decision… it's Misako's and mine…" he darkly said.

"A decision every father should know about or be involved in…"

"I never wanted you in my life…" Garmadon hissed back. "Fathers help their kids… they're there for them when they need it most and all you did was anger me, lie to me, and let me run away… Fathers don't need to know what their children do after their adults in their own bedrooms…"

"Well this one does when his son is cursed…"

Garmadon's eyes widened. Masuta never really came out and said it. Suddenly the reality of that hit him. He couldn't say another thing back though.

"STOP IT!" Misako finally shouted at both of them. She wiped her eyes which were bloodshot. "Just stop it!" She quickly left the room when the other four scrambled out of the way as she opened the shut door.

She didn't even pay attention or notice them as she ran out. They looked inside and saw the father and son standing feet apart. The son gave one last angered look and ran away.

* * *

><p>"I don't want to go back… I don't ever want to go home…" Misako hiccupped. "I want to live anywhere but there and have our baby…"<p>

"I know…" he quietly whispered to her. "We'll run away… forever… we don't owe the world anything…"

She sniffed and looked up, "But we can't and you know that…" she wiped her eyes. "We can't just turn our back on everything we learned all these years…"

"Maybe we can…"

"Stop… don't say things like that…" she shook her head. "After all the morals and… are you just going to abandon that? You saw what we did in Yumei… we helped a town…"

"I know…" he quietly said. "And it felt… good to do something like that for once… but I don't want to bear that burden… I want to be normal… I don't a father who created the world… I don't want to be chosen, or special…"

The two walked together into the town, hoping to stay away forever.

* * *

><p>Masuta had left on his own little trip a month later and regretfully, Garmadon and Misako returned home after a week of being away. It scared the other students a bit when they were gone longer than a day because they feared they'd be gone forever and would never see them again.<p>

The two nineteen year olds kept attempting plans to move out but they just couldn't. His father never said another word to them, though Garmadon seemed to ignore him and anything he said to them anyways.

Soon after their teacher was gone, Tanaka and Wu were really the only ones who continued to practice and train. Namiko simply sat and watched the two, especially Tanaka, and Kasai finally was done with her watching and quietly flirting with him.

As she was walking down the hall to go to her room, Kasai grabbed her arm and pulled her into his room. "What's up with you? Why do you always look at Tanaka like that?"

She was taken aback by the sudden question and shrugged and sat back, "He's cute… and strong…"she smiled dreamily. "Not to mention such a gentleman," she bounced on the balls of her feet.

He folded his arms and looked away grumpily, "Boy is that shallow Nami…"

She blushed and grimaced at him, "Oh yea? Like what? If I liked you or Wu or something would that not be shallow?" she raised an eye brow. "Why do you even care?"

He pulled on the hem of his gray shirt shifted his shoulders nervously, "… well… maybe it's because I like you… like like… not just how we use to like each other…" the words spluttered out.

Her big brown eyes widened and she covered her mouth. "You do!?" He pursed his lips and nodded quickly, embarrassed splashed on his face.

She slipped her hand in his and smiled, "Well… I'm not so sure about… dating… but… thanks for at least being honest…"

"And sorry I called… you uh… shallow…" Kai looked away, face turning red.

* * *

><p>Garmadon tiredly opened his eyes. He was always the first to wake up. He turned to look at Misako who was sleeping with him again, ever since they found out about the baby.<p>

Something was off though because he couldn't hear the sound of her light breathing. His eyebrows furrowed and sat up. "Misako?" he worriedly looked. He kicked the covers off and found her shorts soaked with blood and the sheets underneath.

He spent no time waking everyone up, freaking out and having a meltdown. He was almost happy though his father was gone for a while because if he saw him like this there would be more arguing and screaming at one another and less attention to the one actually in pain.

Wu finally yanked his brother down by his long sleeve, "Sit down!" Garmadon limply fell into the uncomfortable emergency room chair.

"She'll live…" Tanaka held his hands up. "You know she'll be okay".

"Yea she was bleeding you idiot! How would you like it if your girl was? Especially if she was pregnant!?" Garmadon growled back defensively. He jumped back up and went into her hospital room. Misako was staring blankly at the ceiling, "It's me…"

She turned her head and didn't say anything. It was close to midnight and they'd been there almost a whole day. "You…" he looked down and swallowed, "okay?"

Her emerald eyes watered and held his hand. "It would have been a boy…" she weakly smiled through the pain. "Fourteen weeks…" She turned her head back and the silent tears bubbled out.

He looked down at the obnoxiously white sheets, "I wanna marry you…" he brushed her light hair back, "I wanna marry you and try again…"

"I'd… I'd like that," she managed to smile ever so slightly. "A lot…" she closed her eyes as he kissed her forehead.

**Uuuuugh this was two combined... I figured "Hey! Why just throw them together?" Man I posted this story over a month ago and we ain't even a quarter of the way there! XD **

**So I'll see ya in the next update hopefully :) Thanks for reading**

**~Mar**


	21. One Step Ahead

"Well… they're official…" Namiko kicked her feet up on the tree branch she was seated on. Kasai and Wu were also up in the tree with her. It was an unnaturally hot day for May. "Wonder what a honeymoon is like…" she reached up to pick the hanging fruit from the blossom clusters.

"Why is it even called that?" Kasai yawned, closing his eyes.

"Well I don't know… I don't even know how it got its name," Wu laughed. "Kind of a goofy term ya know?"

Namiko tossed some cherries down to the boys hanging out on lower branches and started eating them, "So… Tanaka went back to visit his grandfather… Garmadon and Misako are probably off on the making goo goo eyes and doing the do on a beach… what do you want to do?"

Wu scrunched his nose, "Sometimes I think raising you working in a bar was not a great decision for your father…" he looked up at her. "Sometimes you say things that are… weird…"

Namiko blurted out laughing, spitting out a huge cherry pit that dropped to the stone pavement, "Boy you're so weird too Wu!" she smiled. The brunette swung her legs over so that they dangled, "In all seriousness… I want to get out of here for a while… Let's go camping!"

"The last official camping trip we had… we almost were killed by a wizard…" Kasai scratched behind his ear.

The girl of the trio tilted her head back and forth, considering what the boys were thinking and she shrugged, "Well; I ain't gonna sit around!" she jumped down from her high seat without attempting to climb. "Who wants to have a Spinjitsu match?"

She finally suggested something the two boys couldn't say no to. They jumped down too, "Remember… nothing below the belt and no weapons to the face… in robes…" she held a finger up before they started.

The groaned but obeyed. They all used their Spinjitsu to change into fighting clothes, Namiko's was a ruby colored one, Kasai's was a brown color, and Wu's was gray with hints of pale gold on the edging.

"Nami, those are your ninja robes now?" Wu looked at her red tunic with a train that went down to the backs of her knees and was opened from the waist down.

She whipped out her sharpened, silver edged fans and smirked, "Oh why? Did ya forget I was a girl?" she pulled her hood over her long hair, her brunette swirls hanging from the back of the mask.

Kasai pulled out a sword and smirked, "Well I didn't…" Namiko blushed under her hood. They didn't quite tell Wu that they were in a relationship quite yet. After a week or so of considering, Namiko said yes to Kasai's affection.

Wu's was gray and black and he held a pair of nun chucks in his hands. "Who's first?"

"How about I fight the winner?" Namiko suggested.

Masuta watched the three take their stances as he walked by, "I am going into town… I will be back before sunset," he told them. "Do not break anything please".

"Yes master!" Kasai shouted and they turned their attention back to their duel.

Right away Kasai whipped around and kicked Wu back against the tree, head banging the thick trunk. Kasai laughed and was immediately hit in the face by Namiko's fist.

As Wu recovered, something didn't feel right. He looked around curiously, trying to get a sense of what it was. "Wu! Ya gonna join our fight again or what?" Kasai shouted across the courtyard.

Wu stood up, leaning on the tree for support. "Wait… I… uh… guess I sense something…" he frowned. The sixth sense thing belonged to his father and Tanaka but he never thought that he could have a power like that.

_Gooooold_

The blonde jumped and threw his hood back, "Someone's here…" he pulled his weapons back out quickly. The other two ran over to him, weapons in hand. "Who's there?!"

"My you're a perceptive one…" a voice laughed.

Wu's blue eyes widened. "Where have I heard this voice before…?" he muttered, trying to think.

"You're the blonde… with your brother that night I was thrown out of here…"

Wu straightened up, "Oh no…" he looked around quickly, searching for the person he knew it was. _"What was his name again? Silas… Silan…" _Wu turned the names in his head until he remembered, "You're… name was Sigan…"

The voice laughed, "Oh so you do remember me…"

"I remember too…" Namiko swallowed.

"Where are ya? Show yourself; unless you're scared of the greatest students of Masuta!" Kasai boasted.

A black figure appeared almost out of nowhere. His eyes glowed blue and his suit was black and cyan with strange clock like symbols all over it. There was a strange and eerie aura to him after all these years.

"You mean that-"

"I'm Sigan? Yes… but I'm now… the Time Ninja…" he laughed.

Kasai's eyes widened, "How did-"

"I know what you were going to say?" Sigan finished again. He chuckled. "Well, after the run in and getting… thrown out and such… I searched for anything… anything that could give me power… or everlasting life… or just enough to stand up against Masuta and all of you…"

"That's impossible!" Wu shouted. He looked into the swirling blue eyes of their enemy. "Wait… unless you-"

"Exposed myself to the Chrono Crater? Yes… good guess because I did…" Sigan nodded. "I can now know whatever it is before you do it or say it…" he looked around. "My… where are the older students? Ran off?"

"Busy at the moment," The three took a stance. "And we know you've come back for-"

"The Golden Weapons?"

"DAMN IT! Can you stop doing that!? It's-"

"Getting annoying?" Sigan finished yet again, smirking.

Kasai's eyes burned with fire in them, "Okay… I want to-"

"Beat my ass in?" He shook his head, tutting, "My my… that doesn't sound like language a student of the great Masuta would use…"

"AAAAAAARGH!" Kasai roared again, "That's it!" he charged first.

"KASAI WAIT!" Namiko screamed.

Sigan pulled out a strange looking sword that resembled a clock hand and was able to strike first.

"KASAI!" Namiko screamed and clapped her hands over her mouth.

It wasn't a fatal blow. Sigan just disabled his fighting arm with the edge of his blade, stabbing the seventeen year old ninja in the shoulder, probably severing some tendons in the process. The black hair teen crumpled to the ground, trying to wish the pain away.

"Let us not make things any more complicated… shall we?" Sigan returned the clock handle sword to his sheath. "I hate to make a mess…"

The open wound on Kasai was pooling under him and soaking into the cracks in the stones. Wu and Namiko opened their weapons again and charged with careful steps. Sigan kept dodging their attacks gracefully.

It was hard to believe the teenager they met years ago was now a master fighter who could predict their every move without much effort to it.

All three were knocked to the hard ground, head's spinning. Sigan walked past the three collapsed ninja and stepped up and inside to find the Golden Weapons.

If neither could get up, Masuta would be in town all day and would never know until it was far too late; then, there was the matter of Kasai probably bleeding to death which was wracking his friend's nerves, watching his tan skin pale and blood pool around him, soaking into his dark colored ninja suit.

Wu was the first to force himself up. Namiko was kneeling next to Kasai, trying to comfort him. Wu let out a breath, "Nami… do you know what sort of powers you have yet?" he looked back.

Namiko looked down and frowned. Tanaka controlled the weather, Misako had power over wind, Garmadon was shadows, and Wu was light. She and Kasai were still unable to find an ability to call their own.

"You're Spinjitsu is the color of blood…" the blonde pondered aloud.

The girl looked at her hands and frowned. She couldn't keep her body from shaking as her tunic was smeared with her unconscious friend's blood. Tears formed in her eyes and then her hands glowed. "Healing magic?" she looked up.

Wu smiled weakly, "You're hands were made for healing… not destroying…" he dropped down next to her.

Her glowing hands touched the wounds Kasai received and they closed up. The black haired teen opened one brown eye lazily and moaned. Wu sighed with relief and Namiko covered her mouth with her bloody hands. "I did it…" she looked down at Kasai, "Can you stand?"

Kasai pushed himself on all fours, "I can try…" he wiped his bleeding lip, rotating his shoulder whose tendons had been fully healed. "I wanna get back for that stab…"

The three stood together and slowly walked inside their home, ready to try again. "He foresees our moves primarily because we take a split second too long deciding what to do I think…" Wu frowned.

"Then we'll have to fight without a second thought… we must let it flow…" Namiko opened her left hand fan in a single swoosh. "It might give us a better chance…"

"SIGAN!" Wu shouted in the quiet monastery.

As expected, the Time Ninja walked out and stood, ready. "Aw… so… you want me to finish the job this time…"

They all drew their weapons, "This time, we won't lose…" Kasai smirked.

Sigan silently charged first with great speed. His narrow frame weaved in and out of their placed weapons in motion.

He went to bring out his clock hand like blade when he choked on his air. He looked to Wu whose hard end of his nun chucks smacked him in the sternum. Wu was satisfied with look of genuine shock on the Time Ninja's face.

While Sigan may have been able to see what was coming, he couldn't move out of the way in time for Kasai to slice his fighting arm open and Namiko quickly shut her sharpened fan and turned it to the blunt end and jabbed him between the eyes.

Kasai and Wu released him and he dropped to the floor, hand clutching the sliced shoulder and forearm, "How did-" he wheezed.

"We do that?" Kasai finished with a smirk. "We figured if we all did different things at once… you couldn't possibly dodge everything in time… you rely on our next move thinking… if we didn't hesitate as much, you wouldn't have as much time to think…"

Sigan managed a one handed cartwheel on his good arm and stood in front of the doors to the monastery, sliced arm limp at his side. "You think a little poor attack like that can stop me? Haha… I can speed up time too kids… I wonder what you'd all look like in… ten… no… twenty? Maybe more… how about we find out? Let's be surprised!"

The three were alarmed to see his hands glowing in blue flames. He looked at the three with depthless blue eyes as he brought his hands together, ignoring the arm that was sliced open less than a minute ago.

Wu's own blue eyes darted left and then right at his friends on either side. He swallowed and spread his arms to shove them both out of the line of fire, exposing himself dead center for more time than Sigan needed.

Namiko's temple hit the wood floor, making her black out, for how long, she couldn't know.

When her brown eyes finally opened again Sigan was on the floor, cringing and yelping in pain as Kasai stood above the man, katana slowly cutting up the foe's stomach, "I can go deeper you know…" he growled. Sigan screamed for mercy.

She squeezed her eyes shut, seeing all the blood and opened wounds on the Time Ninja, "DE-AGE HIM!" he roared. "DO IT NOW!"

"I CAN'T AND I WON'T!" Sigan screamed back. "AAAAAAAAAAH!"

"KASAI STOP THIS!" Namiko used the table to hoist herself into a standing position. She jerked his arm back, sparing the enemy more pain.

The sword clattered to the ground and all that was heard was the labored breathing of Sigan. Kasai looked at the sword and then back to her. "What the hell Nami!? Why did you stop me!? I'm trying to help Wu!"

"Wu told me my hands are for healing!" she shouted back. "And I can't watch as you tear someone apart… LITERALLY! Kasai he doesn't know any better… that Chrono-Crater really screwed his head up more than it already was…"

"He's a psycho… a time psycho… Masuta would want him dead,"

"Who dead?" they gasped and turned around.

"You piece of scum…" Sigan spluttered out, blood dripping down his chin. "You train your students to kill whoever it is in their path!?"

"You are very injured…" Masuta nodded, gaze lifting to Kasai. "Kasai; that is your sword…" The younger teenager silently nodded, "Why are you torturing an unarmed foe who was disabled long before you started to mutilate him? I understand he tried to harm you… but it was obvious you had ceased his attacks before this."

Kasai hesitated and looked back at Wu, lying unconscious. "It wasn't my fault! He was gonna age us so he'd kill us in the process!"

Masuta's blue eyes widened and he stepped over Sigan's writhing body to look his youngest son over. He pressed a hand to Wu's face, saying absolutely nothing for several minutes. He looked back, "He must not be very good… he was only going to age you all by…" he narrowed his eyes, "Ten… ten years," he nodded, "Wu's still alive… so don't worry…"

The other two breathed in relief. "What about him?" Kasai glared.

Namiko brushed her hands off on her clothes and walked over to the man that just tried to kill all three of them, "It'll hurt for a moment…" her hands glowed again.

Masuta silently watched her use the magic until the wound that Kasai had made was mostly sealed up; he was still wounded, but not on the brink of death. "Now… you will leave and never come back… or else I will not be around to do this again for you…"

Sigan was able to stand on his own, "Damn you brat…" he hissed at her. She had a hard look on her face and stepped backwards, "Don't worry… I will be back… only I should take you out first little Namiko".

**Long one I know. My dad loved the idea of a time ninja because I was unsure about putting him in too much... my dad told me to go for it resulting in this chapter xD **

**So look, Kasai learns a bit of a lesson... I figured this would be something that Kai would do so "Why not make his dad like that too?" **

**Thanks for reading :) **

**~Mar**


	22. Land of Ice

Garmadon and Misako stepped together, holding hands as they walked back through town, on the road that would lead them back to their home. They looked far happier than anyone ever saw them.

"I can't believe a month has already gone by…" Misako leaned against him more. "But we needed it…"

He picked her up around the waist and kissed her, "Yea… we should do it again sometime".

She blushed and laughed. He set her down and they climbed the steps up to the monastery. Together, they pushed the gates opened and stepped through them. Tanaka was the only one not at home, for he was in the home he grew up in before he left for the counsel of Masuta.

"Welcome back!" Namiko smiled, greeting them first. "It's good to have you back…"

"Wish I could say it's good to be back…" Garmadon frowned, forgetting the good mood he was in on the way over.

The younger ninja girl didn't have the heart to say what had gone down a week ago when Sigan attacked them, so she'd let Masuta tell them that one.

Wu on the other hand, was freaking out quite a bit when he woke up, being told he was now ten years older than what his teenage mind was saying to him. He didn't leave his room for four days and now that big brother Garmadon and his still crush, Misako was back, he wanted to slink back to his safe bed yet again.

Namiko did explain though about her new healing powers, "I'm just a little uncomfortable with… so much blood… you know?" she rubbed her slender hands together.

Misako nodded, understand the seventeen year olds conflict, "Yea… I understand, you're healer but you're a ninja… and sometimes we'll have to… do things that we don't want to…" she looked at Kasai next, "You were pretty damn brave standing up to Sigan like you did".

There was a knock on the door and Misako decided to answer it. It was the mail so she poured over several letters, one from Namiko's father, and some other garbage, but she stopped at the bottom one.

It was addressed from Tanaka.

She frowned, opening it up. If he was there for almost a month, what would he be doing that he would send a letter?

_To my family,_

_I am in my hometown where I was born; Yosho Island. It's a little town in the center of a huge lake. Winter is long over and the snow should be gone from this beautiful place. But it is not. When my grandfather and uncle sent word I had to come. I am sorry I did not share the news with you of it. _

_However, if you're reading this letter, I am most likely either captured or dead. Not sure which is the more likely situation… Well I suppose that is unimportant for the time being. I sent this ahead of time, before I went into Frost Cave. I wish I knew what was in there really but something is causing this elongated winter. _

_Otherwise, I hope you are all well, and that you will come as swiftly as possible. My grandfather shall greet you at the gates of the city and invite you into their home where they shall explain the rest of my story. He is the town elder._

_Hurry please!_

_Tanaka Fujiyoka_

Everyone looked at the neatly hand written letter from their strange friend with wide eyes. Misako folded it up and ran to grab her back pack and some warmer clothes, as did the others. Without another word to Masuta; they dragged Wu out of his room and set off.

* * *

><p>Yosho was a peaceful place without any of the technology they had being so close to the city, which was a little foreign to them. There were no cars, but carts, no phones, televisions, or anything electronic. Maybe an occasion radio some of the younger adults kept hidden from their elders.<p>

It was rather obvious most of the young people wished for technology instead of their mundane, traditional lives like their ancestors.

"No wonder Tana left this place…" Garamadon chuckled, joking around with Kasai while Misako shook her head.

"Well… I think old towns like this preserve history beautifully," she smiled, looking at the old, thatched roofs. "I hope they don't modernize…"

Garmadon rolled his red eyes, "Just like you like old things… just like your parents…" he sighed.

She went stiff and eyed him. Wu came between the two in an uncomfortable fashion, "Well I agree with Misako". He smiled at her. "Sometimes we need reminders about the past".

"Great… even though no one asked for your opinion…" Garmadon fired back at his younger brother with a faked smile. "Besides… you're just a kid, stop acting like an adult… your body may be twenty seven, but you're still a teenager…"

Namiko snapped her fingers and discreetly pointed ahead, "Come on… this must be Mr. Fujiyoka…" she whispered.

"Are you the friends Tanaka spoke about?" the old man asked them. The five nodded their heads quietly. In fact, the whole town was pretty quiet. "Oh thank the gods…" he brought his hands together. "Come… I'll tell you the rest of what the letter did not say…"

Since there was no technology at all, there were no air conditioners or heater. Ever though the ninja lived in a monastery, they still had radiators at least. Misako shivered, even under her green scarf and several layers of clothing.

"It's June… how can it possibly be this cold?" she asked.

"I'll tell you right now," he unlocked the door to his home and brought them inside where the fireplace was already working hard to keep the small house warm.

Misako sat right next to it, rubbing her arms. Her husband sat next to her and wrapped his arms around her to try and help.

"My name's Armin…" the old man finally said. "Tanaka has said plenty about you in his time here…" he looked at each other. "You must be Namiko… Tanaka has told me you had quite a crush on him…"

Namiko blushed fiercely and looked away. "Uh… yea… but I don't think it would have worked out in the end…" she held Kasai's hand, trying to laugh it off.

"Right he always said Kasai was a little jealous… Oh and of course, you're Wu…" he looked at the blonde with a smile. "And judging by the wedding rings, Garmadon and Misako…" he nodded at them.

"That's us…" Misako stood up again. "Now…" she sat at the table, "Tell us about what happened here…"

Armin nodded and the others sat too.

The old man told them about a mythical army of ice warriors that could turn the land to snow and ice at their mere presence. Two leaders rallied warriors and staged a coup and only one warrior remained. No one of course believed in it, until spring turned cold and by May, it was freezing.

"Tanaka went to Frost Cave because he believed the myth… it was said that the cave is always cold, and in the depths, pure ice," the old man went on, "but ever since Tanaka left for there, it has gotten colder!"

The others exchanged glances and nodded. It was obviously no myth, Tanaka must have figured it out and upset the creatures.

"Which way to Frost Cave then?" Kasai grinned.

"You mean you really believe my grandson?" Armin blinked, surprised.

Wu nodded, "He may be a little… strange, but he's really smart about these kinds of things… point us in the right direction and we'll go!"

* * *

><p>The hollow, echoing caves proved to be rather eerier for the young adults to travel through. The ice was so thick when they reached deeper that not even their torches could make an impression in it.<p>

Finally, there came a fork in their road.

"Which way?" Wu nervously looked.

"You three go to the right, Misako and I will take the left…" Garmadon nodded and started walking down the left tunnel. Wu swallowed and pressed on, scared for the two that went the other way.

He at least had Kasai and Namiko.

* * *

><p>"I feel like we're walking round in circles…" Misako pulled her scarf up, above her runny nose; she didn't do too well with the cold.<p>

"Come on…" he pulled her along. "There's only one tunnel right? Not like they can change…"

Misako looked more jumpy, "Don't say that!" she snapped at him. "It might be true," she slowly looked behind out of paranoia, and scuttled up closer to her husband.

Garmadon sighed and shook his head, "Tell ya what; stop complaining… or else I'm not gonna take my pants off for you ever again…" he smirked to himself.

"Yea… fair trade… unless we die here!" her muffled voice snapped back. She straightened up, "And shush! It echoes in here!" she looked behind again. Suddenly, she was more worried about someone hearing _that_.

Then the married couple heard the trudging of snow and Misako literally jumped into her husband's arms, making him drop their torch which went out right away in the snow.

"Shit Misako!" he cursed in the dark, still holding onto her though.

"I thought I heard someone following us!" she squealed.

"Damn it Mimi! There's nothing but your _very vivid _imagination!" he shouted at her.

She scoffed in the dark, "Yea… vivid imagination… like you would know…"

"Shut up!"

"No you shut up!"

"I can't even see where I'm going!"

"GARMADON DON'T PUT ME DOWN!"

"Why not?!"

"I'm scared!"

"Of the dark!?"

"You are too!"

"How did you know about that?" he gasped, sounding almost offended.

They bickered back forth without moving on in the pitch black ice cave as the trudging sound came closer to them.

"Something touched me!" Garmadon yelped.

"Sorry… was that me?"

"I don't think so…" he swallowed, "You can't reach my leg from the position you're in…"

* * *

><p>Wu, Kasai, and Namiko ran as fast they could: wanting to find Tanaka and at the same time, keep them warm. "Is it just me… or is it getting colder?" Wu shivered and wiped his nose.<p>

Namiko stopped, "I think you're right…" she frowned and lowered the scarf around her hair and ears.

_"__Get out" _a hissing sound said to them through a cold breeze from deeper in the cave. Namiko backed up against Kasai who wrapped his arms around her protectively.

"Come on… we gotta find out what that is…" the black haired ninja swallowed.

"You crazy!?" Wu shouted at them. "We gotta find Garmadon and Misako and get out of here! Maybe Tanaka's even dead!"

Kasai looked down and sighed. He quickly grabbed the back of Wu's coat and started dragging him with one arm, "All the more reason to stop… whatever this thing is that's freezing everything over!"

The trio ran faster.

***waves arms* ooooh, lame spookiness of stupidity! So... is Tanaka alive!? What do YOU THINK?! O-o I am really tired and have not been sleeping well I'm sorry I'm a dork... I'm just gonna go over here and hope someone is reading this piece of bullshit I am spending hours at a time working on :P**

**Thanks if you are reading this :3**

**~Mar**


	23. The Last Ice Warrior

Garmadon and Misako, opened their eyes, but their bodies didn't move as quickly as they would have liked. "Where are we?" he groaned.

_"__In my solitude of ice."_

Garmadon blinked, "Is the wind talking to us?" he looked around, not seeing any physical person around who could be talking to them. "Or am I going crazy?"

More footsteps and the two breathed in relief as they saw the figure of their friend, Tanaka. "Thank the Spinjitsu Master you're alive!" Misako held a hand to her chest and smiled.

Tanaka didn't answer back though. The two studied his gray eyes and saw they were pupil-less and completely white. His skin was blue and hair, an off white.

"What happened to you?" She slowly got up. "Tanaka?"

Garmadon held a hand out to her, "Careful!"

_"__I am not Tanaka, his body is now fused with my soul," _he answered back. It was not his kind and patient voice though. Instead it sounded hollow and wheezy. _"My name is Tosho and you are trespassing on my land"._

"There's a whole village on your land then…" Misako folded her arms tightly, seeing her breath as she spoke. "You can't just uproot a century old village… all that history…"

Garmadon ran a gloved hand through his hair and sighed, "Mimi, you can't reason with an obvious psycho monster."

Misako extended a hand back, signaling for him to keep quiet while she worked. "The legend is true yes? You're the last Ice Warrior? Right?"

_"__You have sympathy in your voice… I laugh at that"._

Misako frowned, "Well then… you better release my friend" she pointed. "We're ninja and we have three more on their way!"

_"__Sorry you mean them?"_ Tosho in Tanaka's body stepped aside and Wu, Namiko, and Kasai's bodies lay limp on the ice floor, their skin a very pale shade of blue.

Misako covered her mouth and Garmadon yanked her by the arm, back to him. He didn't want her to end up like them. "If you release Tanaka and the others… we'll leave… you'll never see us again…"

"There you go cutting more stupid deals!" Misako punched him. He was surprised to have some wind knocked out of him. "You did it with Gahrann…" she clenched her teeth. "Don't you care about Tanaka's family and village?"

"I only care about getting you and those three dingbats over there out of this mess!"

"Why do you have to be like that huh?" she looked very mad now. "We're ninja… you better start remembering that…"

He looked at her with his glowing crimson eyes, not finding a good thing to say back to her. She turned around let out a breath. She took a step and twisted her body around into her silver tornado of Spinjitsu.

She had changed from her coat and scarf to her silver and green ninja robes and removed a scythe from her back sheath. "You want something done right… you need to take a stand… not cutting cheap deals that will end in your certain death…"

Garmadon did the same and appeared in his black and purple suit, swords in hand. "Fine then… we'll do it your way…" he raised an eyebrow under his purple hood. "Mind my asking… what is your plan?"

"Well… we don't want to hurt Tanaka's body…" she frowned. "We'll have to figure out some way to get the spirit out… if Namiko was awake… then maybe we'll have a shot… but our powers won't do us much good… well… maybe shadow might…"

Ice crystals danced out of the palms of Tanaka's soulless shell and braided itself into a beam, aimed for the married couple. Misako cart wheeled out of the way and Garmadon ducked, nearly missing the shot.

His wife made her way to where Wu and the others lay asleep. She started shaking Wu, "Come on! You have light powers damn it!" she growled, lightly slapping his face. "Wake up Wu!" she growled. She frowned, starting to give up.

His head turned and he tried to open one eye and Misako smiled, "There you are…" she half laughed.

"What's going on?"

"I know you just woke up… but we can use a little warmth right now…" she looked back as Garmadon stalled and blocked her from getting hit by the ice warrior. "Come on," she pulled the younger brother upright. His legs and back were stiff from the subzero temperature as he tried to get use to move his locked up joints again.

He wrapped his arms around himself and his hands glowed an orangey gold color, his skin restored most of its natural color and he stretched up. "Ninja-GO!" his gold Spinjitsu came to life. "Okay… I'm back," he tiredly grinned.

"'Bout time you showed up to the party little brother," Garmadon weaved around another ice blast, sending a dark ray of dark energy back at the enemy.

Wu slid in with Misako between the two, "Sorry about that," he cracked his knuckles and pulled out a sword. "I'm ready now though…" He painfully looked at Tanaka's white form. "We'll save ya buddy…"

"I'll charge at him and he'll be too occupied with me for when you two come on both sides, hitting him with everything you have," Misako smirked to herself, eyes on Tosho.

Garmadon quickly tried to veto her plan though, "You'll be risking yourself more than us; no way, I'll charge-"She kissed him quickly and took off. "Misako!" he rolled his head back as she went on ahead without letting him get a word in.

"Come on!" Wu tugged on his sleeve and they did as she told them to do.

Wu however ran all the way around, getting an idea of his own to add. He came up from behind, bare hand pressing against Tosho's ice cold back and let the warm light glow.

The ice warrior parasite howled in pain and Misako swiped the blunt end of her scythe, knocking him back. They got the monster on the floor and the brothers held him down. "Tanaka I know you're in there," Misako heavily breathed, "And we sure could use your willpower right now…"

"That can't work, and if it did, it would be really cliché," Garmadon felt cold creeping through him as he held onto to Tosho in Tanaka's body. "Not everything is like a movie…"

"You of little faith…" another voice escaped the lips of Tanaka's blue body. He chuckled but he snapped back to Tosho.

"What are you doing!?" Tosho hissed.

Tanaka laughed, "I'm taking my body back you monster!" He grabbed Wu's hand. "Do it…" he switched back to the ice warrior.

Wu wasted no time in emitting his orange glow, right in the chest.

From Tanaka's mouth a blue frost escaped. When it left his body, Tanaka collapsed back, Misako catching him.

Tosho's frost form morphed into a more solid, faceless figure. "My my… excellent work… but you're ninja… you can't kill…"

Garmadon growled and grabbed him by the throat, not caring about the cold seeping into his body. "Yea… but we can still maim," he grinned a little too eagerly.

Tanaka pressed his fingertips in a strange pattern on the warrior's chest who let out a grown, "He cannot turn into his gaseous form to overtake bodies anymore… he's stuck like this… so most of his power is rendered… almost useless…" he coughed, suddenly feeling weak again.

Wu caught him and his hands glowed orange again, warming the older one up. "Are we going to leave him here?" he looked back at Tosho.

"IF we perform the Tornado of Creation… we can imprison him here until Masuta can come and lock him away for good…" he thought out loud.

Wu's blue eyes widened, "But we've never done that before… father said… it could have… unspeakable consequences…"

Tanaka nodded, "We only need four…" he looked up at Garmadon, Wu, and Misako. "And I can manage…"

"The elements requires is Fire, Earth, Ice, and Lightning dingus," Garmadon rolled his eyes.

The black haired young man nodded and stood up. "I always had this notion that… us four… were something more…" he looked up. "My sub power… it's obviously ice…" he looked at his hands. "I have survived here well long over when someone should have died…"

The others nodded, it making sense, "What about the rest of us though?" Garmadon asked.

"Fire…" Tanaka pointed to Garmadon, "Lightning," he pointed to Wu, "And Earth…" he looked to Misako. "Think about it guys…"

The other three didn't deny it and stood up and tried their best to channel the given element from in the souls. Then it clicked and so did the Spinjitsu tornadoes.

When the four collided, it was wobbly and started falling apart at first. Tanaka wouldn't allow that to happen though. Using every last bit of energy he had left in him, he pulled them together to create a barrier around Tosho, made of impenetrable ice.

The four spun out and collapsed the ground for a while until they felt strong enough to get back up and carry Kasai and Namiko's cold, tired bodies back home where they all belonged, safe and sound until the next enemy came around.

**Oh my gosh you guys thought Tana was dead!? Sheesh... why would you think I killed a character who was on my cover page for it XD **

**Soooooo my brother and I were doing some talkin and we were like Hey yea, Garmadon's all hard headed and angry just like Kai was especially in teh beginning (hmmm no wonder the two aren't fond of each other), Tanaka is just like Zane, all smart and cool, my brother was the one like "Wu would be the annoying younger brother like Jay" and we both concluded that Misako is the smart leader role..****.**

**That and I thought it'd be awesome if a girl was the gang leader and Garmadon would have take her orders... (speaking of taking orders... a lot later in the story I am writing this awesome idea I had)**

**So yes as you can tell I am way too excited and happy about writing this story I was originally gonna make this stupid thing... so thank you for taking your time to read the story and my dumb commentary ^-^ **

**~Mar**


	24. The Golden Weapons

Upon returned, Masuta was already aware of the four's elemental powers. Kasai and Namiko were rather jealous but all the same, happy for the four older ones.

The old Spinjitsu Master led the four into the room where he kept the Golden Weapons on display since the days of the Final Battle where he nearly died fighting the Overlord and his terrible army made of stone.

One by one he took each weapon and gave it to their new, respectful owners. "I knew there would come a time when the weapons would find their way to their ninja…" he placed the Nun chucks of Lighting in his youngest son's hand.

"I never would have guessed it'd you four…" he gave the shurakins to Tanaka who gratefully accepted them. He almost hesitated before giving the scythe to Misako. He smiled though, "Needless to say, I didn't except the Scythe of Quakes to choose a girl…"

Misako blushed and gently took the scythe by its handle. "The Element of Earth is giving to the one who was born to be a clever and strong willed leader…" The green eyed woman was surprised as well as the boys around her.

"Thank you…" she closed her eyes and smiled.

Masuta looked at the gold Sword of Fire and then at his son's glowing red eyes, hesitating even more so than he did with Misako. After a few seconds he cleared his throat and gave the sword to the oldest child. "The Sword of Fire chooses the most… impulsive one…" he avoided his son's gaze.

"You will keep these weapons safe and use them against the forces of evil… you already met many enemies… from my own past and ones you made on your own…" He referred to Sigan and Tosho. "And there is no doubt you will make even more enemies than… even I, in your lifetimes…"

The four bowed to their master and Kasai and Namiko looked at each other, happy, but still rather down about not being chosen like them.

Masuta side glanced the two youngest of the group and smiled at them. "You thought I forgot about you, correct?" he turned, folding his hands in his long sleeves.

"Oh no master!" Namiko lowered her head, embarrassed at her subtle jealous looks at the others.

"But I have not forgotten…" he said, pulling something out of his long sleeves. "For Namiko… a weapon that I have kept very close to me…" he handed her the sleek, black and silver fan with a lotus crest on it. "It was my wife's when we fought evil together…"

Namiko's brown eyes sparkled in awe as she took it, opening it up. Unlike her red fans, this one opened in a fluid motion and closed it again with ease. She held it to her chest and bowed her head. She of course never met Delilah, but heard Garmadon talk about her. "I will take good care of it master…"

He nodded, happy to see that she would be a good new owner since he did not have a daughter of his own to wield it. "For Kasai, this is one out of five swords of this kind made from an old friend, Hiroshi…" Kasai went to speak and Masuta cut him off, "Yes… the same one that made it out and named the jungle and the natives named it "Hiroshi's Labyrinth" in his honor".

Kasai had to restrain himself from squealing and jumping around like a little boy so all that showed was a goofy, excited smile on his face. Kasai came to the conclusion; definitely better than a gold sword; to him anyways.

"Now… run along…" he almost felt funny saying that to them, being they were all young adults now. It must have been force of habit.

Kasai sliced air with his sword as he was talking to Wu, "I always thought about being a blacksmith when I lived with my mom… seemed like a good line of work… do you think Hiroshi would take me on as his apprentice if I ever met him?"

Wu shrugged, "He lives all the way by Jumanokai…" he looked down, "We'd all miss you… Namiko the most"

On cue, Namiko ran over, her face looking urgent. The two boys looked at her as she gasped for breath, "Garmadon and Misako are gonna move out!" she flipped her loose hair off her shoulders and down her back.

The two jumped up as well, "WHAT?!"

She nodded, swallowing again, "I just overheard them! They got a little place on the edge of Ninjago City and they haven't told Masuta yet! I saw them packing and looked… _happy_ _about it._"

Kasai and Wu exchanged glances. Namiko was a little too much of a girl, being she treated this as if it was high school gossip. "Better talk them out of it… I guess" Kasai sighed, sheathing the sword but stopped, "Wait a minute… what if I got married? Would you all stop me from moving?"

Namiko closed her mouth, "Hmmmm, but still! We're a family! They can't just up and leave us! I should tell Masuta right now!" she huffed. "They didn't even tell us!"

"You crazy though!?" Wu blinked. "Garmadon will eat us alive if we tell dad!"

Namiko jumped, "But I don't want them to leave forever!" she cried, covering her mouth.

"We won't leave forever!" They turned around. Misako was walking out to them, scythe in hand, "We'll still have to come back… we're still ninja…" she smiled. "Garmadon and I… we just need… personal space… we've been talking about this for a while…" she tucked her light brown hair behind her ear. "Plus we have these… I doubt Masuta will just let us go so easily," she gripped the scythe.

Namiko tightly hugged Misako around the waist, she was still shorter after all, "You're my best friend! I can't let you guys just run off!"

The green eyed woman laughed and hugged her back with a smile, "You can visit whenever you want…" she looked around. "We're leaving soon though… while Masuta is out… don't tell him anything until later though okay?" she winked. "I'd like to actually look at our first home before we're dragged back".

"You two act like we're in high school…" Kasai rolled his head back and groaned. "We aren't the monastery gossip channel…"

Namiko straightened up, "No but good idea" she winked. He rolled his eyes at her silly joke.

Garmadon came out, "Come on," he grabbed his wife's hand and started running out the gates with her, he was actually smiling; which didn't make Wu feel so great, "See you guys later!" he looked back as they ran away.

Wu watched as his brother and sister–in-law left the home they grew up in for good.

"They always said they'd get out of here…"

**Had to combine with another chapter because uugh, I hate short chapters myself... **

**Thanks for reading! **

**~Mar**


	25. Black Angel

Garmadon wrapped his arms around his wife's waist and pulled her on top of him. "Two days and dad hasn't found us," he laughed at their little victory, jokingly.

Misako kissed his forehead, "Well… I still want to get actual furniture eventually…"

He sat up, "Hey… we have a table and couch, don't we?"

She laughed and shook her head, "Well… I don't mind your little blanket nests for a bed…" she sat next to him on the couch, holding his hand. "Oh… did I tell you? I got the job…" she smiled.

"At the museum?" he blinked. She nodded, smiling brightly. "That's great," he kissed her again.

"Tomorrow I start my first day as record filer at the Ninjago Natural History Museum!" She had been eyeing the position since just before they were married. Yea she was well off, but she put almost all of the money her parents left her into the wedding and the house alone.

"File keeper? Seems below you…" he raised an eyebrow.

She shrugged, "Yea well, I'll eventually get out of the step above intern…" she laughed. "Believe it or not, they pay really well for their interns".

There was a knock at their door. Misako got up first. She didn't look through the peep hole so she was quite surprised when Namiko, Kasai, and Wu were on her doorstep.

She jumped upon seeing them, "I never gave your our address!" she rubbed her forehead, sighing, "How did you find us?"

"Easy; Garmadon posted a "Stay out we're ninja" sign on the gate to the back yard…" Wu stated in a matter of fact tone. He pointed to the gate.

Misako's green eyes went wide as she rushed out to the gate and sighed loudly, "That man…" she tore it down. "Please tell me Masuta doesn't know we're here yet?"

"Don't worry, we're here because he can't find you and there's been a robbery at the Museum," Kasai folded his arms.

The older woman ran back inside, past Garmadon who jumped to his feet, "Where's the fire!? Who was that?! Was it my dad?!" he followed her into the next room and saw her removing her scythe from the wall rack. "What's that for?"

"I may be a secretary but I'm still a ninja…" she tossed him his gold sword which he fumbled in catching, having it clatter on the hard wood floor.

He picked it up quickly; "Still not following…" he looked the sword over, making sure there weren't any marks.

"That was the others," she ran out again, "We have a thief to catch!" She said it with child-like excitement. Things had gotten pretty slow since the Tosho incident and them moving out.

He quickly followed her out and caught up with the others, "So where are we going exactly?" He looked to his younger brother who was in front of him.

"We're meeting up with Tanaka at the museum!" Wu huffed as he boots hit the sidewalk. "He knows what was taken apparently…"

The five young ninja ran six more, big blocks until they reached the large structure that took up half the block on the main road. The sign above the big, brown doors read "Ninjago Museum of Natural History" and they stepped inside to see Tanaka awaiting them.

"It was this…" Tanaka pointed to the exhibit picture, "A Naginata from the dark ages of Ninjago…" he pressed his pale lips together.

Misako pushed through, almost excited for the fact that an old relic was stolen, "I read all about them at the library back at the monastery," she spoke, "This was a shadow clan that was wiped out completely… or well, at least the whole cult of it… there are still some survivors!"

"Cult?" Namiko squeaked slumping. "Survivors?!"

Misako nodded, "They sacrificed their prisoners to the Overlord before Ninjago was divided… and even after that, they believed if they kept it up, he'd come back to the mainland… they used these and several other types of pole armed weapons… they had that flashy, fake magic… nothing really real… all demonic of course…"

"Well who would want this? I mean… it looks dangerous unless you know how to use it…" Wu scratched the back of his head, curious.

The museum director; and Misako's boss came out, "Well, they most likely was going to steal something else… but the security guards got out of here in time… they may be back again…" he quickly informed them. "I would very much like to have that Naginata back… it was priceless".

The six exchanged glances, "So what? We wait it out until they come back tonight?" Kasai asked.

Garmadon couldn't help but let out a groan. The last thing he wanted was to wait around for a petty thief to try and steal something else dark and foreign, yet there he was, hours later, hiding behind the information desk, ten to one in the morning.

"Holding up okay?" Misako ducked down and winked. "You look tired," she kissed his cheek. He shot her a look but she plopped down next to him on the floor. "Nah… I know what you wanted to do tonight," she turned her body more to him and raised an eyebrow.

"Don't tempt me," he tugged on her braid.

She laughed and shook her head. "You know… you need to learn some self control," she kissed his cheek quickly. "But don't worry, I'll keep yu company behind this lonely desk".

"Where's Misako?" Wu poked his head up from behind the glass cases, groaning obnoxiously. "This is boring…"

Namiko clicked her teeth together and looked around, "I might have a clue-" a loud clatter and the sound of shattering glass was heard, making everybody jump to their feet, and ran to where the sound came from.

Garmadon banged his head on the low shelf in the circular front desk cubicle. "OUCH!" he hissed. "What the hell was that?"

"I don't know but grab you weapon," she was the first to roll out, tightening her green belt. She pressed her back against the wall, waiting for Garmadon to silently join her. They both raised the masks over their mouths and flipped their hoods up.

The leader poked one eye around the corner and saw Wu and the others, waiting for her signal. She held a fist up and then moved her hand down, signaling to go.

At one of the displays, shattered glass covered the tiled floor surrounding it. A curvy figure in a black cat suit was picking up a spear with carvings along the wooden shaft with silver ornaments dangling off of it. Misako registered the weapon already on her back was the stolen Naginata. In fact, it was a matching pair of weapons.

"Okay, drop the spear," Misako drew her gold scythe. "We wanna do this the easy way…"

The woman in the cat suit turned her head and laughed, "Sorry? What was that?" she removed her hair cap. Her hair ran down to the back of her knees in black curls, making the boys of the group wonder how all that hair could be pinned up.

From the lighting, the woman's skin looked white and there was a pinkish glint to her cat like eyes.

"Who are you?" Tanaka spun the gold shurakin in his hand.

Her black lips tugged up in a smile, "I'm actually a descendant of this cult… it belongs to me, not a museum!"

"We have these so they don't get used for the intended purposes…" Misako raised an eyebrow. "What's your name?"

"Hatsu… Hatsu Minoko…" she tucked her hair behind her ears, tying it into a ponytail. "I'm just a small time thief right now… maybe you heard of the Black Angel? I derived it from the cult name… Hei Titanshi".

"That means your clan is women dominated right? Titanshi believed that one would be chosen as a bride for the Overlord… your clan thought they could rule with him?" Misako scoffed. It was more rhetorical.

"Well then what are you going to do to us Hatsu? Some of your black magic?" Kasai mocked with a bit of a laugh.

She smirked and her eyes were a bright pink. "You asked for it". She whipped out the Naginata. "Do you know why I am the Black Angel?" she smiled eerily. "If you don't, you'll find out…"

Kasai was the first, his brown eyes glowed the same shade as Hatsu's. It looked like the young ninja was losing control of his body. "I pull his strings… for he thinks I'm someone he trusts… he sees you as the enemy… he cannot see, but he registers your auras as evil…" she laughed, "The Hei Titanshi are the ultimate wolf in sheep's clothing".

"Witchcraft…" Garmadon muttered.

Hatsu looked in his direction and smiled, "Yum…" she walked over, "I'd love to put my spell on you," the attractive thief had a strange look in her cerise eyes. "You have the eyes of the cursed… we'd make some set of partners…"

Garmadon didn't know how to respond to that one. _"Why has almost every foe we met told me this?"_

Misako planted her scythe handle in the ground and used it as her anchor point for the kick that connected to the beautiful girl's temple. She was knocked into the nearest wall, creating an impression on the beige stucko.

The others looked at Misako in surprise at what she had done. The light haired ninja looked surprised herself. Masuta did say that the scythe choose the one with the strongest will, she guessed it brought out some physical strength as well.

After the initial shock she turned her mad face on again, "Stay away from my husband!" she snapped.

Tanaka quickly black flipped, away from Kasai, "Glad she chose one of the weakest of us to attack…" The sharp blades of his shurakins reflected the strong steel katana.

Hatsu was charging back over and Misako charged first before the others could get the chance. She dodged the jab of the spear like weapon and tackled her. "You're not very good…" she scoffed.

"You're husband will be an easy one to control… he has the great venom in his blood… he is the most vulnerable…"she smiled, "And surprisingly the strongest… though you are the master of earth…" The screeching of the spear head on the gold scythe made everyone's ears sting. A pair of small black wings materialized behind her.

The hairs on the back of Misako's neck stood up before the others could scream her name. She dodged and rolled into a standing position, "Garmadon!" she shouted at him.

"The two lover boys are the easiest it seems…" she got up and stretched her back muscles while the others were occupied with Kasai and Garmadon.

Tanaka and Namiko handled Kasai no problem. The other black haired ninja in white and lavender pinned the one in the red orange one down, restraining every movement.

Wu and Misako circled on both sides of the ninja with the gold sword with the savage cerise eyes. Wu took the next charge while Misako hesitated, looking at Hatsu who picked up the spear and started backing away. She looked at Wu and bit her lip, "Go after Hatsu! She's the controller!"

Namiko hesitated, looking down at Kasai and went with him. Knowing Hatsu would surely use Garmadon to defender her, she'd have to distract her husband. Misako rolled her head back, hearing her bones cracking, "Okay sweetie… sorry if I break something…" She used the handle end of the scythe, sure not to hit him with the blade end.

In the meantime, Wu and Namiko used their nunchucks and fans to strike high and low, tiring the thief woman out. She finally was sliced by Namiko's fans across her calves and fell face first to the ground. "Release them," She planted her small foot on her back.

Misako performed a handless cartwheel and back spring, out of the way of the sword swipe by a hair and smacked him across his back twice with the blunt end of the Scythe of Quakes. Hatsu's glowing eyes dulled and the two male ninja under her control collapsed.

"Unconscious…" Tanaka observed.

"She probably won't be able to walk again…" Namiko folded her arms with a proud smile. Hatus whimpered in pain, "Oh don't worry about it, you'll be fine in a year or something".

Namiko's insides were crawling though because of what she did to disable the thief. It had to be done though if she wanted to help Kasai and Garmadon. She shut her fan with a loud 'shing' and walked out first while Misako and Wu tied Hatsu up.

**Hatsu is of my own invention because we seriously need more female villains so I figured Hatsu would be a suitable minor villain. I may even have her hook up with Sigan the Time Ninja in the future because "hey let's have some villain fun"**

**Wow this is about halfway into what I have written already... the next couple of chapters needs some work actually so I might post another in a couple of days depending if I get stuck or not... **

**~Mar**


	26. Isle of Dragons

The damages weren't as bad but the museum was still shut down for a week to do repairs on the floor, windows, walls, and to replace the display cases. Misako was given the week off with pay being she was one of the few who helped to stop Hatsu.

The young woman who stole the weapons was found to have an older sister who dabbled with magic tea mixes, settling down in a quiet life instead of taking up the ancestors' cult ways.

Her name was Mystake and she ran a shop with her young son on the other side of the Ninjago City on a little hill. Wu made a mental note to visit the little shop being he was quite curious about 'magic tea'.

Things died down for a little while for the small team of ninja, one thing they were all quite happy about.

Masuta looked at the empty wall where the Golden Weapons once rested on the racks. He sometimes regretted giving them to the young adults. It had been two years and he wished they all were still living at the monastery; they all had a lot to learn, but he decided to back off from his oldest students because they obviously wanted their own space.

However, one night, he saw something, he did not like.

"Wu… call everyone in…"

The blonde teen jumped up in bed and looked at the door. He wiped his eyes and slowly got up, doing as his father said.

"Garmadon…" Misako moaned tiredly into his mouth. She kept trying to drift off, pushing him by the shoulder, "Honey come on I'm tired…"

The high ringing of the phone snapped them awake. "Who the hell would be up and call at three in the morning!?" he stretched his arm over to try and grab the phone.

Misako let out a breath, "We're up…"

"You know why I can't sleep though," he testily grabbed the phone finally, "Who the hell is this!?"

_"__Sorry!" _

"Wu!?" Garmadon shouted.

Misako arched upright on her stomach when she heard his brother's name. "What does he want?" she whispered, shaking his shoulder.

"Misako one sec," he lowered her hand. Seconds later he hung it up and reached for his clothes, "Come on… something _urgent_. Everyone's going… pack a small bag each". He rolled his eyes.

She kicked her covers off when he tossed her bra and underwear back at her. She sighed and turned the light up, getting back into her clothes.

It was around five when they reached the top of the monastery with everyone waiting for them, "You sure took you time…" Masuta testily commented.

"Well sorry but you caught us in the middle of something very important," the oldest son fake smiled. His good mood was definitely gone as it always was when being in the presence of the old master and father. "Now where are we going?"

"We're going… to the Underworld…" the Spinjitsu Master started out of the gates without any explanation to the six. "But first, I need to make a pit stop on the way…"

The ride was rather silent except for Garmadon and Misako hanging back, quietly talking to each other. Wu and Tanaka were in front and Kasai and Namiko were between both pairs. Masuta was in the lead by himself.

"Wait, we're going to the Underworld on horses?" Kasai blinked. "How do you do that?"

Masuta shook his head, "No. That is why we're going somewhere else first…" the blonde with the long braid said without looking back.

"I don't like this…" Garmadon muttered. "Dad always said no human should go down there… and what are we doing? Going down there…"

"Why are we going is a better question," Namiko meekly said.

Masuta looked behind at the young woman with the long brown hair, "Because something has escaped and we need to handle it…" he looked forward again, "Not to mention I fear Samukai's loyalties have shifted…"

The Underworld was the prison of many villains they battled over their lifetime. Cardinsto, Gahrann, Tosho, and many others' exiles ended up in a prison connected to the Underworld. "Right now I suspect that the keeper of the Underworld is the one who let it loose… that is all I am saying…"

"Wait the keeper is supposed to be a good guy right? Since he holds the bad guys?" Wu blinked.

Masuta closed his eyes, "No… we are not friends… we are actually… not quite enemies… he'll hate you Wu, and Garmadon for merely being my sons… and the others for being my students… or daughter-in-law".

Everyone exchanged worried looks silently.

When they reached the shore, they ditched the horses and had to travel across to a small island off the coast. Masuta still never said what they would find on the island, to be honest, he'd much rather it be a surprise like it was for him when Delilah first showed it to him, not long after they first met.

_"__What is the place?" Masuta looked around. "Why did you take me here?" _

_The young woman with curly brown hair smiled, her indigo eyes shining as she wanted to tell him what he would see. "Now now my dear Masuta… I have come here many times before I ever knew you…" she climbed through the thick foliage, a much younger Spinjitsu Master behind her. _

_"__What does that mean?" _

_A roar was heard and he stopped to pull out a weapon and saw Delilah, petting the nose of a dragon. She looked back with a smile. "I never knew they all hid away here after so many years…" Masuta smiled, sheathing the sword. _

_The one she was petting was red and orange with gold eyes. Another that was blue nudged her with his nose and petted him too. "This is my favorite place… I spend days here at a time… but it must be kept secret from hunters who would destroy them because of ignorant fear…"_

_A gold dragon with green markings and eyes landed next to him. He brushed the beast's nose and smiled brighter. "Well… I believe we have not met…"_

_"__His name is Gorudo…" she smiled, walking over. "I thought you would like him…" she looked at his pale gold tunic, "Being… the Spinjitsu Master with your gold and such…" She looked down, "What do you think?" _

_"__I think they are wonderful…" he smiled, looking back at her. "Same as you…"_

_The woman with the long brown hair smiled up at the Spinjitsu Master and stood on her toes as their lips pressed against each other._

"Father?"

Masuta blinked out of the memory when his youngest son spoke. They were almost to the shore.

"Something… wrong?"

He looked back at the others, "This place just has… certain… memories that come with it… that is all Wu…" When they came up on the shore, they all got out. He turned back, "Do not wander far…" he pointed. "I will call you when I am ready…"

Garmadon and Misako planted themselves under the hanging trees on the beach while the others stayed close, but explored the strange island.

"This is pretty place…" Misako looked around, leaning on her husband. She took her boots off and wiggled her toes in the sand. "Why do you think we're here?" she frowned.

He shrugged, lying on the beach shore. "I never know why my father does what he does…" he closed his eyes, ready to fall asleep. She rested her head on his shoulder and twined their fingers together.

"Nami come on! Kasai! We aren't supposed to wander off!" Tanaka and Wu were trailing behind the two younger ninja who were quickly running ahead of the more adventurous pair.

They laughed and looked back, bodies slamming into something large and hard. They looked up and froze. Tanaka and Wu did the same once they caught up and saw what the younger two bumped into.

They all let out a scream that made Misako and Garmadon jump to their feet, following the sound of their paralyzed yells. They froze as well, staring in the up direction; for standing over them, was a huge dragon that was brown and green.

The all slowly started backing away when another from behind nudged at Wu. It was blue.

Surrounding them were several others, one that was red, another white, a purple one, and a pure green one. The six young ninja had no idea what to do and simply stayed back to back against each other, barely breathing as the monsters sniffed them.

Flapping sounded over head and a large shadow was cast over them. They all looked up and breathed in relief when they saw Masuta on the back of a beautiful, gold dragon.

"I thought I told you to stay put until I got you?" he dismounted from the gold beast. They all looked at him questionably.

He smiled and laughed a little, "This island was found by your mother boys…" he looked at his two sons. "She showed me this place when we first met and then, that made me want to train her…" he stroked the nose of the gold dragon, "And… marry her…"

Misako looked at the green one and smiled, raising a hand to it and gently petted it. The other cautiously did the same. Garmadon quickly took to the purple one. "That's Kage… she was your mother's favorite…"

The purple and black colored dragon seemed overly friendly to him and he smiled, happy to know this was a remnant of his long dead mother. "That green one is Itchii, she's an older, wiser one…" he looked down, "I'm sorry to say these look like the last of dragons… many lived here when Delilah showed them to me… I suppose more must have died out over the long years…"

Kasai liked the red one which was called Hono. Namiko liked Rokki, Tanaka Hahen, and Wu made quick friends U-Ispupu. Everyone snickered though when they were told his name.

"Dude… it sounds like poo poo," Kasai covered his mouth, snickering.

Wu rolled his eyes, "Well then why not the name Wisp? That's what it means in English right?" he mumbled. "And you sound like a five year old! We're twenty! You're laughing at bathroom humor?"

"Thirty actually if we're talking to you," Kasai coughed. Wu shot him an angry look, being he hated being reminded of the Sigan incident.

"So why are we here?" Namiko asked curiously, interrupting.

Masuta folded his hands in his long tunic sleeves, "They will help us get into the Underworld of course," he smiled.

**Some more childish dragon fun the next chapter I promise. **

**I made up more... Asian names for the dragons, and the ninja just happen to rename them to what they mean in English. Kage is Shadow or Shade and Gorudo is Gold BTW**

**I really wanted the dragons in this story so... haha I came up with some kind of backstory about why people were afraid of dragons and such... I also found it to be the perfect opportunity since Nya said that her father told her and Kai stories about the dragons, what better way since he's a ninja in this story? **

**Wow long commentary, I apologize, I just get so excited about this story... Another thing I wanted, well just because it techincally is a GarmadonxMisako back story, I wanted it to have more with Kai's parents and how everyone interacted... Technically there are eight main characters to that story, being our six students and Masuta and Delilah, the flashback above was my attempt at incorporating how they met and started falling in love... **

**Ahem enough of that, thanks for reading... **

**~Mar**


	27. Into the Underworld

All but Masuta had not rode dragons before. They were all clinging for dear life to them and the saddles. After a while though, Misako found the courage to actually stand on the back of Itchii, arms spread and ninja tunic billowing in the breeze.

"Be careful!" Garmadon shouted at her, looking agitated.

"CHICKEN!" She pointed at him and started making clucking sounds, flapping her arms like wings.

The other started laughing with her until finally the brave woman's husband got up as well, accepting her dare. He wasn't as balanced as her, because he wobbled around a little. "Psh, it's not that hard!"

"Yea right!" Misako laughed. Everyone was cheering and clapping as each found the nerve to stand up as well.

"THIS IS AWESOME!" Wu shouted, laughing. His shorter blonde hair blew back out of his eyes.

"Stop messing around! All of you!" Masuta glided by them gracefully seated on Gorudo. They all crouched back down; looking rather upset being reprimanded by the old master. Misako bit her lip and looked over to Garmadon, riding Kage, they both started snickering.

Masuta looked back and smiled, standing up, "You all look like silly pigeons, flailing your arms out, do it like this," the other students laughed when their master stood, completely still on his dragon.

Though he was a serious man, he had his moments.

"THINK QUICK!" Misako leapt from Itchii.

The red eyed young man nearly had a heart attack when he saw her jump. She kissed his cheek and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I just came for that… see ya later…" she jumped back, Itchii catching her. Garmadon tried to grab her so she couldn't try it again but failed. "You dare devil!"

The master of course found their behavior to be childish for their age since they were adults. Still, he was happy they were enjoying themselves at the same time since who knew what could happen when they met Samukai for the first time. "Now please no more playing around, and do hold on!" the dragons started angling down.

The young adults looked at one another, all alarmed except for Masuta who, after years, finally smirked because he knew what would happen.

They never hit the mountain and Tanaka was the first to realize that they were flying through the way to the Underworld. "I see now… only dragons can charge up enough speed…" he nodded.

The sudden cold tunnel air felt good against their sweaty faces from the sun beating down on them above ground. It blew their hair, straight back, off their faces until the glowing colored crystal faded to grays and then black, darkness engulfing them.

The seven dragons landed and the riders dismounted, barely able to see two feet in front of them.

They all found each other though and Masuta started walking ahead of them, "Now come… he is expecting us…" he looked ahead.

Garmadon's red eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness and he was the first to follow; Misako stumbling a little behind him but knew where he was because the red glow his irises gave off.

"So… this is the Underworld?" Namiko breathed, squinting to see in the almost pitch black darkness.

"Yes…" Masuta quickly said.

They walked through a pair of gates and they entered what looked to be a throne room where there was more of a light. Garmadon looked around, strangely interested in it.

"Now what is it? _Masuta!?_" an scratchy; angry voice echoed in the chamber and two purple pyres of fire erupted, lighting the chamber up the rest of the way in an eerie colored light.

A strange looking man sat on the throne before them, when their eyes adjusted yet again, they found it was no man. Wu retracted first. "A skeleton?" he whispered. He always heard stories but he never believed that the Underworld was run by skeletons like this.

"And he has four arms…" Tanaka bit his lip, surprised as well. "I never heard of such…"

The corner of Garmadon's mouth pulled up a little in a smirk, "Four arms?" he started chuckling to himself, "Cool…" Misako elbowed him for the comment.

"Well hello to you too Samukai," Masuta folded his hands in his long tunic sleeves and stood upright, authority in his voice, "Now… I know what escaped here rather recently…"

The four armed skeleton rolled his red pupils, "Well now, you show up here unannounced and you accuse me of not doing my job-"

"Because you do not do your job…" Masuta cut him off calmly. "And I must show up unannounced or else you try and keep me out". He hinted a smile.

"Who're the kids…" the Skulkin leader nodded his head towards the six behind him.

Masuta stepped aside, "My students…" he pleasantly introduced them all. "Tanaka Fugiyoka, from Yosho Islands; master of illusion and ice… Kasai Blackman; a stray we took in with his friend Namiko Atin… both non elemental ninja…"

The three stood close to each other, looking up at the Skeleton King. "And then there is my daughter-in-law… Misako Alexander… a historian… master of earth and the leader of the team… another… take in…" he coughed, "and my sons…" he hesitated, looking at the blonde and brunette set of brothers. "My youngest… Wu… master of lightning and light… and… Garmadon… master of the flame and shadow…"

Samukai's eye fixated on the older brother, "My… those eyes…" Garmadon glared back at the skeleton, hand squeezing his wife's, wanting to snap something sarcastic back but Misako kept shooting him warning looks. After a short stare off the skeleton king finally commented, "He looks just like Delilah… except that eye color…"

"I'd shut it now if I were you," Garmadon finally snapped off.

"Has a quick tongue like her too…"

Masuta looked back angrily. "I apologize… he's still… young…"

Samukai held a boney, clawed hand out to silence him. "I like you Garmadon… you seem to have a… certain… interesting quality about you… makes me wonder why you're a ninja…" The brunette held his head up with the same grimace. "And not one of us…"

Garmadon's eye brow twitched up but his father stepped between the two, "Okay that's enough from you," he eyed the skeleton king.

The boney creature slowly stepped down from his throne, bottom clawed hands behind his back, "So… Masuta… what do you think escaped past me? What was so important you came down here?"

Masuta looked the red eyed monster in the eyes, "Yeongi…"

**Ugh, so after I post this I have to re-read Mask of the Sensei because I need... some ideas from it... **

**So the dragon bit was probably fun. Just imagine a bunch of 18-20 year olds riding dragons for the first time. Like I said about the grapple gear in Attack on Titan; I would abuse the shit out of that.**

**Thanks for reading... **

**~Mar**


	28. Reflect

Samuaki sat back and folded both sets of claws together, putting on a fake smile with his jagged teeth. "I have no idea-"

"You fool…" Masuta stepped forward until he was glaring down at the skeleton king. "They will wreak havoc on Ninjago… and you let them escape… after Delilah and I worked hard to imprison them…" he sighed and opened his eyes again, "Where did they go?"

"I don't-"

"He knows but he will never say…" Tanaka interrupted with a deep frown as well.

Samukai looked back at the harsh glare of Masuta and sighed, "Fine, they may have escaped to the secret entrance from the Fire Temple and headed for someplace dark… the Caves of Despair perhaps?"

"Then we must hurry," Namiko covered her mouth. They all looked at Masuta who nodded.

"You six… go and track them down…" he kept his eyes fixed on Samukai, "I will remain here… I trust you to do this job now".

He needed to watch Samukai to make sure he wouldn't do anything else. Not to say he didn't want to go and track the creatures down as well, it would be more interesting then standing around here. He hated to admit it, but he was just getting to old to be running around like his young pupils and they needed to learn to get a handle on things like this without major destruction or near death.

The six quickly started back to grab their dragons and rode back to the land of the living, heading straight for the Caves of Despair which was not too far from the monastery where they resided.

Once the six creatures had landed, they quickly started to devise their plan. "I think some of us should hang back before we all just move in and attack them…" Misako frowned. "I'll definitely go in..." she bit the inside of her cheek.

Garmadon opened his mouth and she held a hand up, "Not you… how many times have you done something stupid and impulsive?"

He folded his arms and frowned, "Name one ti-"

"Cadinsto, Gahrann, Hatsu," they all said together with un-amused faces.

He sat back and grumbled, folding his arms. "Okay, how about me, Tanaka, and Misako?" Wu suggested. "Kasai and Namiko and can hang back with Garmadon…"

"Sounds good to me…" Namiko shrugged and stood up. "Personally I'm sort of afraid…" she blushed out of embarrassment.

They all walked inside the gloomy caves, Misako and Tanaka at the head of the pack. It felt suddenly cold compared the air outside. Wu seemed to cling to Misako who held her gold scythe in her slender hands. She looked at Tanaka, "You can take point on this one if you want…"

The lavender and white clothed ninja nodded, "Hello? Is someone here?" he politely asked.

A figure walked out to meet him and Misako and Wu behind him gaped. "How can that be me over there?" Misako whispered, looking puzzled.

Tanaka held out a hand to Wu who went to move forward, "Hold on now Wu… you should not believe what you see…" he smiled a little, "My what a clever thing… Yeongi… at times independent thinkers… at others; a hive mind of smoke creatures that can morph into whatever shape they desire…"

"How did they get her image? It looks just like her…" Wu tried to look away.

"They take on the image by the memories that surround you… they choose an image of someone or some people you think about most often…"

Misako looked at Wu in surprise and the blonde fiercely blushed bright red in complete embarrassment. "So what's the deal with these guys?" Misako sighed and looked back to Tanaka for more answers.

"First off… they can be very dangerous…" Tanaka started talking quietly. "They lure you in with a figure from your memory… most people don't know about them… but my family dealt with them before… my grandfather… Armin, when he was a kid Masuta saved him and my grandmother… it's one reason I wanted to meet him…"

"How are we going to get it back into the Underworld?" Misako folded her arms, trying to look away as well from her copy.

Tanaka tilted his head, "I suppose… they are sensitive to light…" he slowly nodded. "Some big flashes can weaken them enough to send back…" he looked back, there was an even better means of defeating them, but he ws afraid to say it aloud for their foe to hear.

"What's going on? Namiko keeps freaking out over every little sound-" Garmadon walked in. The figure of Misako shifted and turned into a taller figure in purple with long brown ringlets. He froze where he stood. "What the hell-?"

"It's not her…" Wu swallowed. "It's… what we have to fight…"

"I'm not fighting mom!" Garmadon looked upset that Wu would suggest such a thing.

Misako shoved the two apart, "Okay let's stop…" she huffed and looked back, clicking her teeth together, "Why don't you reveal what you really look like?" she narrowed her eyes.

A voice laughed, "Well then, if the beautiful lady insists," the figure melted into countless smoky creatures with glowing, purple eyes, surrounding the whole edge of the cave.

They backed up against one another, "Uh… any ideas?" Garmdon raised an eyebrow.

"This!" Wu shouted and generated a bolt of lightning. The smoke split, unaffected by the attack. "Oh come on!"

Tanaka's gray eyes shifted back and forth, wanting to tell the others about his small knowledge.

"Eek!" Namiko poked her head in and then left. "Kasai… I hate being a guardian of the country… it's not how I thought it would be…" she covered her face. "I don't think I can do this anymore! How can we stop those things!?"

Kasai sighed and shook his head, "Nami… I don't know… but I think those guys need help… I know you never thought you'd have to face monsters like this, but they need our help".

She sighed as well, "Okay… you're right!"

"Now or never…" Kasai sighed and spun, "Ninja-GO!" he followed. Namiko trailed after him. "What are we doing guys? Any ideas?"

Wu and Garmadon backed up against one another, "On three, use a lightning attack…" Garmadon looked back. His younger brother quickly nodded. "One… two…"

"THREE!" Wu spun his nun chucks rapidly, sparks emitting from the center that held the ends together. Garmadon's golden sword erupted with flames that blasted holes through the smoke creatures. The little monsters hissed in pain and started slinking into the corners more and more.

"Need some help!?" Kasai offered running out. A group of the Yeongi morphed into a woman with long, blonde braided hair and green eyes. "Mommy?" his eyes widened, he held a hand out to her, tears pricking his eyes.

"IGNORE IT!" Wu shouted abruptly, "It's a trap!" he pulled Kasai back by his orange sleeve. He looked back at the woman. _"So that's his mom…"_

Kasai snapped out of his stare and stepped back. "Come on…" he let go of Namiko's hand and they readied to continue the fight.

Tanaka concentrated and looked at Misako. _"They cannot stand their own reflection!"_

She almost looked startled when she heard his voice in her mind but got the message all the same. Tanaka nodded at her and threw the shurakins so that they were embedded in the walls, reflective ice forming around them.

"You missed!" several hissed at him.

"Exactly my point…" he looked back at the others and understood what was happening, several looked at the ice and started shrinking into the ground.

Kasai blinked, "Retreating?"

"They know the weakness!" One smoke creature shouted, pointing at them.

Several changed their forms into three figures; the ninja were more ready though when the Yeongi shape shifted to look like Gahrann, Hatsu, and Cardinsto.

"Past enemies aren't gonna work like that!" Wu laughed. "You're all still just smoke!"

Misako's Spinjitsu tornado kicked up the sand and dirt, scattering in throughout the cave floor. Garmadon obviously got the message and used his fire tornado to heat the sand. After the young man was finished, a thin, reflective layer of glass was under their feet.

"A mirror! Perfect!" Namiko clapped her hands together.

"No no!" they all hissed, echoing throughout the cave when everywhere they turned, their reflection was around them.

And the group of young ninja looked at one another. Tanaka twirled a shurakin around his finger and the hive of monsters seemed to all clumped together; melting into the ground.

Samukai lounged back on his thrown, laughing, "Well Masuta… you put too much faith in those kids… it's been hours since they left us… where are they now?"

Masuta looked back and shook his head, trying to ignore the taunting words of the Skulkin king, trying to have faith in his sons and students.

A distant chorus of shouts echoed in the dank chambers of the fortress, making the two look around curiously. It seemed to get darker as a haze seemed to appear in the throne chamber. "Back to the shadows! Back to the shadows!" the monsters shouted and seeped into the shadows.

Once it settled the two ancient men saw the six were there as well. "Sorry it took so long," Wu grinned.

Masuta smiled, "And you doubt them too much", he looked at Samukai before he steppeded forward, "My you almost had me worried…"

The six collapsed to the floor, out of breath; fighting creatures of smoke that you can't touch was hard work. Their master stood over them, "Come now… how did you send them running?" he smiled a little, a little proud in the fact they managed to send the Yeongi running.

"Because we're too damn stubborn to fail in front of that dirt bag skeleton…" Garmadon choked out, grabbing Misako's hand and laughed. Samukai scowled at the brunette and got to his feet.

"Well that and you of course know master that they hate their own reflection," Tanaka cut in. "My grandfather told me that story..."

Masuta nodded and turned to Samukai, "And I expect there will be no more slip ups such as this?" his hands folded in his long, pale gold sleeves. The king did not respond, "I would hate to make the trip back here and… appoint a new leader… you might just end up a pile of ashes if you don't watch yourself…"

"Just take the brats and leave!" Samukai shouted.

"Very well old foe," the blonde bowed and started walking out, "Come now students…"

They all let out a groan and got up. They all filed out of the chamber and Misako looked at her husband, chuckling along with the others. Garmadon noticed her unusually happy smile and raised an eyebrow, "What?"

She stopped walking with him and kissed his cheek, "I'm pregnant again".

His tired look changed to a genuine smile too.

"Come on," Tanaka shouted. They got up as well and followed the Spinjitsu Master back to the land of the living.

Samukai had watched them walk out, but had fixed his eyes on Garmadon with a strange smirk, "Well… that boy is most interesting… surviving a bite from the legendary Great Devourer…"

"Sir?" a skeleton looked to him.

"Let's keep an eye on them… especially that one…" he folded both sets of claws together and sat back down, "Masuta is a self righteous fool… let's punish him…"

"How?" another asked.

Samukai heard Garmadon slam his doors shut, "We can always start with his sons… or better yet… his precious city…"

**I just gotta say... everything after this chapter... is hella dark even for me... I gotta reread it but... it's like "Wow the tune of this story really changed and how did I not realize it?"**

**Thanks for reading...**

**~Marissa**


	29. The Split

Masuta stood in front of the six students. So much had change in the past four months he didn't know where to begin.

For one, Misako was out of the game and was five months pregnant. He never saw his oldest son so happy though, even after he married her. He looked down at Kasai and Namiko who were now nineteen and twenty.

"So… I have heard that you have been thinking of leaving us…"

Namiko slowly nodded, "I loved being a ninja sir… I still do… but I can't stay here forever…" she sighed. "If you'll allow me… I'd like to continue being a part of team… but I need to stay with my papa more often… he needs me from what I can read in his letters".

"Namiko you may do whatever you wish… this place is your home as well my dear," he looked at the others. "It was an honor to train you dear Namiko… you deserve to be a full-fledged ninja… all of you do," he looked at the others and stood upright. "From this day forth, you will be the new protectors of Ninjago, it is official".

They all bowed gratefully.

Kasai bit the inside of his cheek and looked up. Masuta was already looking down at him. "What about you Kasai?" He saw the young man obviously had a request for him.

"Can you introduce me to Hiroshi sir? I want to learn how to be a blacksmith…" he swallowed and meekly asked.

The blonde master nodded, "It may take years though before you can join us again in fighting… Hiroshi likes dedicated students and you would have to stay there with him until he deems you worthy to be called a master of the art".

"I'll do it," the black haired teen smiled. "I'll do whatever it takes sir".

Wu looked down. Kasai was the only real friend he ever had. He could still remember him running into him when they were kids and stealing candy with him and then meeting Namiko. Now they were leaving him too. At least Tanaka would stay… for now anyways.

* * *

><p>Later that evening, Kasai packed his bags, Namiko looking just as upset as Wu. "I can't believe you're really leaving…" she looked down, tears pricking her eyes. "Wu and I will miss you… you don't even know when you'll be back…" The brunette wiped her nose and looked away.<p>

"Guess I'll just have to be a fast learner if I'm gonna come home quicker," he grinned. She didn't smile back and he sighed, hugging her, "I really will miss you most though Nami…" He buried his face in her soft curls.

"Well you know where to find me… would… would it be okay I visited every once and a while?" she sniffed. "It wouldn't be often since you'd be so far away… but… you will write and call… and…"

"I don't see why that would be a problem… I hear Hiroshi is nice guy…" the black haired young man hugged her tightly. "And of course…"

"I love you…"

"I love you too…" he kissed her cheek, "And… when I come back…" he blushed, "Will you marry me?"

Her brown eyes widened in shock. Her throat went dry and quickly nodded her head, crying more, "Yes…" she whispered. "Yes yes yes yes," she squeezed him tighter and grabbed his face, planting her lips on his.

"Thank you for saying yes…" he closed his eyes when she pulled his face back to her.

* * *

><p>Misako sat on the deck, leaning against Garmadon. "Think he proposed yet?" she looked up.<p>

"Without a doubt… being Namiko's squealing…" he looked down at his wife then her swollen belly and smiled.

Kasai walked down the steps, past the couple, "I'll see you guys around I guess," he looked back.

Misako got to her feet and hugged the younger ninja, "Yes. Good luck now okay? We're all behind you Kasai". She smiled and kissed his cheek.

The black haired young man nodded and readjusted his hold on his bag. "I hope I'll be back sooner than I think," he waved to the others.

"Hey Blackman!" Garmadon shouted. The brown one looked back, eyebrow raised, "Let me know when you become a blacksmith… I'll be in need of a new sword for practice!" Kasai laughed and nodded and without another word, he left through the gates.

Finally, thing seemed to be going right for all of them.

* * *

><p>Kasai stood on the doorstep of the blacksmith's house in the small town, rather remote village. He was tired from the day's trip but had made it nonetheless.<p>

He knocked on the wood door several times, patiently waiting for someone to answer. It seemed like forever as his hands fidgeted, cracking his knuckles or picking at his nails.

At last, an older man with charcoal hair and a scruffy beard answered the door. "Yes?" he looked down.

"I'm Kasai Blackman from Ninjago City…" he brandished his sword, "Master Masuta gave this to me during my training under him as a ninja… I… was hoping…" he kneeled, "Would you train me to be a blacksmith? I always dreamed of becoming one sir…"

Hiroshi looked at the young man's brown eyes and then smiled, "I would be honored if a student of Masuta trained under me… come in young man," he opened the door all of the way and Kasai stood back up with a grateful and relieved smile.

* * *

><p>Namiko wiped the counter of the bar, she was happy to be home, but it felt strange not being at the monastery, waking up to nothing but the birds instead of cars and alarms. She understood why Misako always viewed it as her home. After just one night, it's hard to go back from the peaceful and mysterious home of the Spinjitsu Master.<p>

"Nami!" she turned and had a bigger smile on her face. Garmadon and Wu took seats at the bar stools of the empty tavern, "How have you been? Kasai's been gone for a whole week already…"

She stacked a couple of steins on the back ledge and looked back, "Well… I'm getting along with papa just fine… I'm happy he got accepted by Hiroshi… he promised to write to me everyday… especially now that… we're engaged," she giggled.

"Well congrats Nami," Wu smiled brightly. He rather expected it from those two. It was always funny watching them bicker back and forth when they were just friends.

She turned and looked at Garmadon, "How's Mimi?"

Garmadon leaned on the bar counter and shrugged, "We couldn't be happier… she's almost six months now…" he scratched behind his ear and smiled a little, "And… it's a girl…"

"Congratulations…" she turned and grabbed a couple of mugs, going to the tap and filling them. She slid them across the counter, "Have one on the house boys". She winked. "Hey, where's Tanaka?" she wondered aloud.

"He came into town with us, I think he went to meet his uncle who's in town or something," Wu answered, looking at the orange-brown drink. His brother had had alcohol before but the younger brother was all new to it. He side glanced as his older brother drank without a problem.

The brunette bar maid laughed at Wu's reaction, "Never drank before eh?" her and Garmadon lightly laughed together. "I'll get ya some milk instead," she went to take the mug but Wu pulled it back. She held her hands up, "Okay then…"

Wu sipped it but wrinkled his nose. He tried swallowing but took around three tries and coughed. Garmadon messed with his brother's hair, ruffling it. "Too strong little brother?"

Namiko took the mug and placed a glass of milk down instead, trying to contain her giggles as Wu tried to get the taste out of his mouth. "Any tea instead?"

* * *

><p>"I'm back…" Garmadon shut the door and locked it. He found his wife laying down, slowly waking up from her nap. He kissed her cheek and she opened her eyes. "How's our little girl?"<p>

"Starting to squirm more and more…" she turned on her back and guided his hand to the next place the baby kicked. "But she's just happy you're home…" she let out a breath. "Where were you anyways?"

"Visiting Namiko with Wu," he sat down, "She's a little… down about Kasai being gone still…"

"Who wouldn't be?" she tried to sit up but gave up. "I just hope he'll do well with Hiroshi…" She brushed the hair from her eyes.

For the first time in a while, they felt on top and invincible.

**Yay, another chapter...**

**Thanks for reading :3**

**~Mar**


	30. Skulkin take Ninjago City

Misako leaned on her husband as they walked; arms around her large stomach. They were out with Wu, Tanaka, and Namiko in hopes of cheering her up from the gloomy mood that she tried to hide from them.

"I'm telling you guys, I'm fine, I just visited Kasai last week for two days!" she shook her head. "I know this is important to him, so I'll just have to wait!" Namiko folded her arms and frowned. "Thought up any names for your daughter?" she tried to change the subject from how she was doing.

"We were thinking Delilah for Garmadon's mother," Misako looked at Garmadon. "Right love?" she kissed his cheek.

"Whatever you say…" he kissed her back.

She rolled her eyes, "Well, we only have about a month before she gets here, a name would be nice to have one in mind…"

They walked around the next block when a random explosion hit half a block away, but it was big. It felt almost in slow motion when they were all thrown back a little ways when the blast but then it all went fast.

Garmadon's ears were ringing and the world looked blurry as he tried to register what exactly happened. He turned his head to the right and saw Misako a few feet off from him. She writhed on the pavement, wrapping her hands around her stomach.

His crimson eyes widened and he rolled back up, kneeling next to her. He caught sight of his brother and the two other ninja. "What the hell was that!?" he could barely hear himself.

Wu slowly got up himself and looked up, head spinning He covered his mouth when he saw who set off the explosions. "Samukai?" he blinked, rubbing one blue eye.

"Misako…" Garmadon touched her face, forgetting Wu.

She clenched her teeth together and tried not to cry or scream, "The baby…" she gasped.

He looked around quickly, "Namiko!" he shouted the younger woman's name. "Namiko!" he screamed louder.

The brown eyed woman tried to shake out of her own daze and caught sight of the older ninja who was looking in her direction. She wasn't as far away as she first thought and managed to make her way over, plopping on her knees as her head started clear once again.

Her hands glowed gold and she held them above Misako's body. "I can't do anything really… Ninjago Hospital is two blocks away," she looked up. "I'll stay here with Wu and Tanaka and we'll see you over there…" she hugged Garmadon before running off to grab the other two boys.

Two blocks seemed like nothing when you're trying to save a life or maybe even two. Garmadon didn't have to say two words; plenty of people who were also injured by the first attack of Samukai were in there. Most were waiting but of course, since Misako was pregnant they took her in ahead of others.

"Watch it!" Tanaka created an ice barrier when he slid in front of Namiko who was looking away from her attacker.

She slung another throwing star, "Thanks," she swallowed.

"I got the rest of the people off the streets," Wu ran over, face red from exhaustion. He doubled over, gasping for air; it had been too long since they needed to do that much running.

Tanaka pressed his lips together under his hood and looked back, "You two find Garmadon and Misako… I can handle the rest on my own for now," he smiled, looking back at the younger two.

"No way!" Namiko stomped. "They have each other! If we leave then you'll have no one to cover you-!"

"Great idea," Wu panted and grabbed Namiko's forearm and dragged her along down the block to the hospital. She eventually gave up because like Garmadon, once Wu set his mind to something, he would not be stopped.

"It hurts…" Misako swallowed, tears leaking down her cheeks. "What's going to happen Garmadon?…" she squeezed her eyes shut, more tears bubbling out.

"I don't know…" he quietly admitted, kissing her forehead.

She whimpered, "I'm scared…"

He nodded and rested his head against hers, "I know… I know… I am too… I'm terrified…"

"Out of our way!" Garmadon looked back when he heard the shouting in the hallway. "She's our family!"

"Only her husband can be in there!" A nurse shouted back, sounding frazzled by the rush of everything going on. The red eyed ninja sighed. It was Wu and Namiko demanding to be let in. He was almost grateful they weren't allowed in because he couldn't handle their questions and worrying, he had his own to think about.

The blonde and brunette sat on the floor next to the door; legs sprawled out and let out a heavy sigh. Wu looked over to Namiko, "So… why couldn't you heal her? You can heal anything or anybody…"

Namiko picked at her nails, "Because she went into premature labor and I can't "heal" that…"

"Prema-?"

"The baby is coming early do to the impact she took when the explosion was set off…" she looked back at the locked door, "And it's dangerous depending how early it is… three weeks is pushing it… let alone a little over a month…"

The blood drained from Wu's face, "Does that mean… the baby's…"

"No," she shook her head, "It doesn't necessarily mean that the baby will die… its rather rare… there could also be the chance Misako couldn't make it through… but she's strong so I have no doubts she'll be fine, and if the baby will be anything like either her or Garmadon…" Namiko rested her head back and closed her eyes. "I hope this is one of those cases… for their sake…" she referred to the couple.

Garmadon decided to close his eyes the whole time, too afraid to look at her pain stricken face as she whimpered and strained, trying not to scream. He kissed her hand and squeezed back when she squeezed. "You'll be fine…" he lowered his head, helpless.

"It's more the baby I'm concerned about," Misako gasped, feeling another contraction. She groaned loudly. "I'm gonna push!" she shouted which gained the attention of the nurse.

_"__This is it…" _he thought.

All track of time was lost to the dark haired young man, all he knew was that his wife stopped and all he heard was her heavy breathing. He opened his eyes, alarmed that there was no other sound with it.

Misako weakly opened her emerald eyes, coming to realization too.

_"__We lost her? We lost both of our children"_

**Oh how lovely! I left you all with cliffhanger? **

**And no it wasn't twins at all it's in reference to the first one in the case you were wondering... just to say, this has 0 to do with any previously made Garmadon children, but there will be scenarios of this that will happen in my coming fic "Tournament of Elements" probably later this month. **

**So what do you you think will happen HMMM? **

**Thanks for reading dearies~**

**~Mar**


	31. Hope

Tanaka whirled around the corner to the alley and jumped up between the two brick buildings, trying to get a good over view of what he would be up against. He finally pulled himself over and took a breather on the roof. "Damn… these Skulkin are everywhere…"

The lavender clothed ninja removed his hood and looked down, crouching low. The skeleton warriors were making a scramble as higher ups shouted at them for losing sight of him. He smiled a little and pulled off a couple of smoke bombs from his belt.

His gray eyes twinkled a little when he through them down, how he loved opportunities to use stealth skill such as this fine occasion. Smoke collected in a huge cloud and the ice ninja jumped down. "What's that?!" a squeaky voiced skeleton screamed.

Tanaka realized they were looking at his shadow the sun was casting on the thick smoke. He grinned and used it to his advantage. With his shurakins he whipped up plumes of frosty air and attacked them through his smoke cloud. "Had enough!?" he laughed.

"Run! It's a phantom!"

"Nuckal! Wait for us!" a couple of pairs of skeletal feet slapped the pavement.

Tanaka's eyes widened, "Phantom huh?" he smirked. "Phantom Ninja… I like the sound of that title…" he moved back into the alley to go on with his newest scheme to scare the skeletons off. "Skulkin seem to not be very bright…even Samukai seemed rather dim…"

* * *

><p>"She's breathing… but; she'll need to be cared for here until she's old and strong enough…" the nurse looked at the small incubator where they had to place the baby girl in. She smiled, "You can hold her for a few minutes if you want…"<p>

"She's alive…" Misako could barely talk from exhaustion and shock. "Our baby's alive this time…"

"I know…" he continued to hold her hand gently.

She looked over to where the premature baby slept, quiet whimpers could be heard every once and a while, "I wanna hold her…" she wiped her eyes and sniffled. She carefully picked the delicate baby girl up and held her gently. "Ten fingers…" she quietly counted, "Ten toes…"

Garmadon couldn't stop looking at the premature infant with a goofy smile on his pale face. He gently held a hand to the infant's head.

She leaned her head against his arm, "Are we still going to name her Delilah?"

"I don't know…" he looked down.

Misako tried to look out the window of the hospital room and saw smoke rising in the sky. She managed to smile a little, looking back at her daughter, "I like Hope…"

"Hope? How… fitting-"

The doors abruptly opened and Wu and Namiko ran in, "What's up!? What happened?!" The sudden shouting made the baby whimper, sounding like she was about to cry and the two younger ones looked at the bundle, almost in disbelief.

"She's alive…" Misako gestured with her head at the premature infant in her arm. "We're… we're naming her Hope…"

Wu looked over her shoulder and smiled too, "I like that name… Hope…" Hope opened her mouth and gave somewhat of a silent yawn. Misako bit her lip and decided she should go back down. Wu quickly took her for her mother and laid her down again.

Namiko wiped her blurry eyes but then straightened up, "Oh Spinjitsu gods… Tanaka!" she just remembered. "He could be in trouble!" The girl's brown eyes looked back to the smoke plumes a few buildings over.

Misako shooed them off, saying she would be fine, "Garmadon," she eyed him. "We will be fine… please… if you want to help me… save the city".

He sealed their lips together one last time and rushed out of the room behind his brother and Namiko, dashing past a frenzy of nurses and doctors and everybody in between.

The green eyed woman inhaled and leaned back on her pillows and looked at her daughter.

* * *

><p>"Nice of you to show up!" Tanaka panted as he ran, the others tailing him. "So?"<p>

"We named her Hope!" Garmadon grinned, wiping the sweat from the back of his neck. "So what's new with you?"

Tanaka smiled, "Oh not much… the skeletons think I'm a phantom and ran crying like babies!" he laughed. He tossed them several smoke bombs, "Here, use these; they hated it when I tried it!"

Wu grinned looking at his, "Sweet!" he looked around.

"Okay let's split and start taking their strongholds down…" Garmadon ordered.

Namiko frowned, "Who left you in charge!?" she snapped.

"Because Misako's my wife! Now let's split!"

The small group went separate ways when they came to an intersection. It was amazing how fast the Skulkin army invaded and set up bases. Knowing Samukai, he wouldn't pull back so easily being four teenagers were the ones sent to stop him. Garmadon was fixed on getting to the Skulkin general first, planning to make him pay for almost losing his daughter.

* * *

><p>Masuta looked from the mountain at Ninjago City and shook his head, "Oh Samukai…" he sighed. "I should have known you'd be so bold as to do this to me…" He slowly started walking down the steps to the city.<p>

The sun was setting in the sky and most of the city was damaged and people were hiding, terrified at the sudden and ruthless attack from the Skulkin. Four ninja was all there were roaming the city, trying to take down groups at a time on their own while the much older master quietly made his way to the city.

Namiko was out of breath and rested in a crouching position, "How can we stop them!? How?!" she quickly breathed, feeling light headed. Her head snapped up when she heard a shout. "Papa…"

Her feet padded the pavement as she ran around the block. Her brown eyes widened at the scene before her;

Several skeletons were in pieces but she trembled at the sight of the man in the middle of the mess, cane still in his grip.

"DADDY!" she screamed louder than she first thought, voice carrying along the streets. The remaining skeletons looked up and a fire sparked in her gentle eyes. "Ninjag-GO!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, her ruby tornado knocking them all down before her.

The few remaining skeletons ran away in fear of the young woman. She dropped to her knees and held her ear to his chest, trying to listen if his heart was still beating.

"You're beautiful my strong Namiko…"

She gasped when she heard his gruff voice. "Dad…" she wiped her nose and leaking eyes. "Come on… I can save you…" she fumbled to pull her gloves off, shaky fingers not doing as she commanded, "I can save him…" she barely said. "Just like Kasai…" Her hands felt numb.

"I'm proud at the woman you turned into… thank you for letting be a part of your childhood instead of staying with your mother…"

_One glove was off, it would have to do._

"Keep being brave…"

_Hand to his chest._

"Because Ninjago and your friends need you… more than I'll ever need you…"

_Hand glowed gold but it could not put breath back in his lungs._

Her pupils shrank as she shook, single streams of tears dripping down her filthy cheeks. "NO!" she screamed louder than anyone ever heard. It carried for as long as she held breath in her. Once it finally ran out, she fell to the pavement, trembling. "NO!" she repeated and pounded the pavement like a child throwing a temper tantrum.

"THIS ISN'T FAIR!" she shook her head violently. "DAD!"

Frightened people looked up at the orange sky and quickly bowed their heads. Masuta walked through the main road when she sounded for a solid minute. He already knew what had happened and lowered his head, "Namiko… you poor child…"

The two brothers and friend stopped in their tracks and looked at one another. Without saying a word to each other, they ran back the way they came, towards Namiko's home.

They found her crumpled up in a ball, sobbing uncontrollably, screaming and pounding her fists into the sidewalk outside the tavern. "Nami!" Wu was the first to wrap his arms around her. She leaned into him and squeezed him back.

Tanaka and Garmadon looked down before dropping to their knees themselves and hugged her with Wu. "Oh Nami…" Tanaka whispered, "We're sorry…" She hiccupped and continued crying. "We… we're so sorry…"

"I'll take care of her…" Wu volunteered quietly, "You two are the strongest… you need to work on ending this as soon as possible… it's already getting dark out…" The others nodded and ran back up the street they came.

"I couldn't save him… I was too slow Wu…" Namiko sobbed into his tunic. "I'm a failure…"

"No… no you did all you could…" Wu stroked her dark brown hair as he slowly walked down the street. "This does not make you weak or a failure… you just weren't fast enough… you were scared and trembling and you couldn't think straight…"

"It's still my fault…" Namiko hiccupped. "Because I wasn't steady and brave enough…"

* * *

><p>Misako leaned against the wall as she watched Hope sleep soundly. "You are born in such a time…" she quietly started talking. "The city is under attack Hope… and your daddy and uncle are fighting for us both…"<p>

Hope weakly opened her eyes. They were a pretty sea green color. "You may be premature… but you're so beautiful and strong for surviving this ordeal…" she tucked hair behind her ear and sat back down. "Mommy and daddy love you so much…"

Night had fallen on the land when Masuta stood before a small army that barricaded itself on the main strip of the city. "Be ready to fire at any moment! He's a tricky one!" Krazi shouted at the others who held their crossbows at the man in pale gold.

"My you are pretty brazen for coming here and attacking us like this…" the Spinjitsu master chuckled. "I wonder why Samukai would go through all of this trouble…" His blue eyes flashed, "Only you're Skulkin murdered someone special and close to my Namiko… and no one hurts my children and gets away with it".

In a swift motion, his gold Spinjitsu activated, deflecting the arrows that sailed at him. As it neared the small barricade, the Skulkin lost their nerve. "RETREAT!" Krazi finally shouted as they ran back to Samukai like the pathetic lot they were.

* * *

><p>Wu managed to carry Namiko back to the hospital the whole way where she sat with a now silent, traumatized look on her pale face. He led her by the hand into Misako's room where he explained what happened for the silent girl.<p>

Misako hugged Namiko and sat her down. "Oh Nami…"

"I want to end this…" Namiko finally breathed. She pulled out a kunai and turned the blade to her heart.

Wu was about to leave when he heard her say that and turned. Misako too looked back, green eyes widening. "NAMIKO NO!" they screamed.

**Haha you guys thought the baby was dead lol... **

**However... maybe I'll kill Namiko? Anyone can really die at any moment, ya know? **

**Wow two chapters on a row with a death cliff hanger! Can't remember if I ever did that before. Thanks for reading, whenever I see new comments I feel happy because this and Kill Garmadon get hardly any attention :3 **

**Also, expect more short stories of the Garmadon family like "Simple things" **

**~Mar**


	32. Live

Garmadon and Tanaka plowed through skeletons, weapons swinging and skeleton heads flying. They driven by the shear anger over Namiko and Hope.

"SAMUKAI!" Garmadon shouted at the top of his lungs when the four armed general was in his sight.

Samukai stood to his clawed feet and snapped his fingers. Kruncha and Nuckal rolled out a pair of cannons and started loading them. The fire and ice ninja skidded to a halt.

"Take cover!" Tanaka shouted and dove to the side.

Namiko barely scraped the surface of her tunic when Misako's stronger hand caught her wrist. Wu was grabbing her shoulders tightly, afraid to let go. The younger female tried to pull it towards herself but the ninja of earth was far too powerful, even after giving birth to a child.

"Namiko… stop… your father would want you to live on… he knows you can save other people… he loved you and you must keep living for his memory…" Misako's hands started slipping from the sweat on her palms. "I… I know what you're feeling but you can't commit suicide!"

"Who do I have now though?" she had a blank look in her eyes as she continued to pull against Misako's hold. Wu shut his eyes and shook his head, he would not lose her.

"Namiko!" she shouted angrily. "How about you start thinking about us who care for you! Kasai is gonna marry you when he comes home!"

The smaller brunette looked up with no emotion in her face. "K-k… Kasai…" she weakly said.

"Yea…" Wu quietly said. "You two are inseparable…" he felt the need to remind her. "He would be devastated if he came home to your funeral… you would make all of us sad…"

"That's right…" Misako quickly nodded. "We all love you … you're still a member of our family…" she tried to pry the kunai from the traumatized woman's stiff fingers. "I know… I know what it's like to lose people… my own parents when I was nineteen… my first baby…" she sniffed. "And almost my Hope… but we'll help you Nami…"

Namiko's fingers, one by one, slipped from her kunai and Misako took it from her, and sighed in relief. Immediately though the younger woman squeezed Misako tightly sobbing again.

"It'll be okay…" she hugged her friend tightly. "We are ninja… we're strong…"

"We can't change the past… trust me… I wish I could ever time I look at my brother…" Wu sighed.

Garmadon was in the line of fire, dodging left and right with swift determination. Tanaka was amazed by the will to keep going in the red eyed ninja. Even he was losing stamina, but not Garmadon; he was fueled by pure anger. He got closer and closer till Kruncha and Nuckal gave up and fled.

The brunette pounced like an animal, tackling Samukai to the ground, "YOU!" he shook him. "First you nearly kill my baby girl!" he growled. "And then your Skulkin murder my friend's father!" he seethed. "You bastard!" his eyes pulsated with red. "I'm gonna kill you before you hurt anybody else I care about!"

"GARMADON!" The pale ninja turned to see his father standing amongst the rubble. "That is enough son-"

"He tried to murder my daughter and Misako could have died too in the process!" he snapped back. "My Hope! My Misako!"

"ENOUGH!" Masuta gripped his oldest son's shoulder and shoved him aside. "How dare you do this… I gave you a warning Samukai…" The monster looked up angrily with his beady red eyes. "I will keep you in check like I always should have… I gave you a leash and I see you abuse it… and if I catch you back out here like this… I should have the right mind to extinguish you… though I couldn't do that… I could still keep you bound to the Underworld for as long as I could live Samukai…"

Garmadon angrily watched Samukai get up. When the hulking skeleton walked past the ninja clothed in purple, he was stopped, "I will make you pay for my daughter you scumbag…"

"Keep saying that boy…" Samukai casually said back. "One day that nasty temper of yours will not do you well… I'll be there when it does… and you fall…"

Masuta looked at Garmadon and Tanaka, "Now… what is this about a baby girl?"

Namiko sat in a corner as Misako happily showed Masuta their daughter, still asleep. "My… she is still a wonderful baby…" Garmadon held his wife tightly in his arms and nodded. "Hope… what a wonderful name too…" Masuta gently touched his granddaughter's soft cheek.

Misako smiled, "Thanks…" tears formed in her eyes when the baby gently grasped her index finger. "I can't wait to take her home…"

"… we survived this day… as did many of the city…" Masuta cleared his throat, "I know we did lose some though…" he carefully looked at Namiko. "But we lived on this day… we lived to try and prevent this from happening again… and I am proud of all of you…"

"Those stupid ninja!" Samukai was using his underlings as target practice, throwing various weapons and projectiles. Nuckal handed him the axe next. "They will bow before me!" Kruncha readied to hand him a cutlass next.

"How are you going to do that sir?" Bonezai shook at the sight of the huge axe in his general's claws as he leaned against the wall.

Samukai launched it, barely missing his underling's shoulder, "I wanted the Spinjitsu brothers dead!" he growled. "But I want to personally hurt Garmadon… not kill him… per say…" he looked at Wyplash who was sitting against the walls. "Wyplash… I have something important for you to do…"

"How about I help you… Skulkin King? It seems we both have need to make certain ninja pay for crimes against us…"

"How did you get in?" Samukai looked over at the dark clad man.

He smiled under his mask, "Because I want to make the ninja pay…" his swirling blue eyes looked up. "They spoiled my fun just as they did with you today…"

**Hmmmm... ****_who could it be this mysterious man?_**

**Are you guys ready for the most angsty, emotional, and shouty chapters yet to come to this story? I hope you are! This is where it takes that odd emotional turn for me... this turn almost came to "Simple Things" but I luckily found a way to change it before I posted it... **

**Thanks for reading my updates :) **

**~Mar**


	33. Taken

All had settled down and life was restored to normal as much as normal could get. Not many died during Samukai's pathetic attempt at causing some short lived chaos, but several died nonetheless. It was almost two months though since everything happened.

To top off everything, Misako was surprised how much her husband was taking care of their baby girl. The two were inseparable since the moment he held her. It was also a surprise how he cooed at her and was like a whole new person than before.

She decided that it was a good thing in the end, him being a father. Though he always denied it, he was completely in love with the tiny baby just so he would maintain the ridiculous game of masculinity with his brother and Kasai. Misako of all people knew that underneath that stupid shell of his, he was just mush, and she constantly poked at him for it.

"She looks like you…" Garmadon kissed the top of his daughter's head several times gently. She made a little noise when he did so. "I might as well buy a shotgun now that I have _two_ beautiful girls…"

Misako held the baby's little hand, "Nah…" she waved off, "I have my own scythe, you don't have to protect me," she laughed and went to kiss his cheek. He turned his before she could and sealed their lips, curling up in the blankets more. They seemed to spend every waking moment they could with the infant.

When they let go Misako frowned, "Hey uh… you and Tanaka and Wu have been visiting Nami yea?" he nodded. "Well… is she a little better? I know it's hard… I at least had you and Kasai is still away…"

"Yea…" he sat up more, "She's… not doing so well…" he glanced up, "I still can't believe you told me she tried to kill herself… I… was upset when… mom died… but I didn't try and kill myself…"

"Her father was the only family she had or even loved… you know her mother obviously didn't care enough to call her after all these years… she told called last week and even said she left her mother a message about him… she never showed up to support her at the funeral.." she took his hand.

He sighed, "Well then… guess she was one shitty mother…" he frowned. "In a way… it sort of reminds me of my dad…"

"Stop that!" Misako elbowed him. "Don't go saying that because he tried his best with you and Wu… you forgot that he's lived for thousands of years and… well you and Wu are his first and only children…"

"Exactly, he's old and thinks he's so self righteous being the creator and thinks he needs to be involved in everyone's business!"

Misako rolled her eyes and hugged him and he stopped talking, "Come on… she's falling asleep… do you really want to wake her up?" she saw Hope's sea green eyes dropping. The two set her down on their bed and gave her a kiss.

Tanaka locked the tavern's door and sighed. Namiko had been living at the monastery again being she needed to get over her father's death. He offered to get some of her things for her and lock the place up.

As he walked on he heard strange chattering going the other way. He jerked his head to look around on the lonely street and frowned. Looking down at the duffle bag he carried, he went the other way, not knowing what it was that was giving him a sick feeling in his stomach.

He followed the presence and found himself down the block of his friends' house, "Oh no…" he said before something knocked him down. He twisted around narrowed his gray eyes, "Sigan the Time Ninja…"

"Tanaka Fugiyoka the Ice ninja…" Sigan smiled eerily. "Never thought you'd be in the neighborhood…"

"Why are you here?" the younger ninja dropped the bag and stood, battle ready.

Sigan rolled his eyes, "Well now… I promised to hit you all where it hurt… course I never said when… strange thing the newest member of the family is Hope… because I'm about to take it all from them…"

"Garmadon wouldn't let you near his daughter…" Tanaka slowly circled with his foe. "He'd kill you before setting foot in his home… heck, he'd kill you for thinking of such a thing." From behind Tanaka three Skulkin restrained him. "You're working together?!" His narrow eyes widened in complete shock.

"Knock him out…" Sigan turned and started walking down to his target house. The skulkin complied and hit the butt of his sword at the nape of Tanaka's neck.

Misako looked away from her husband and perked up a little; looking alert, "Something… is wrong…" she got to her feet and stood for a minute.

Her husband nodded, "I sense it too… but…" He looked around the living room.

They heard glass break and they looked at one another in horror, "HOPE!" They raced upstairs and grabbed their golden weapons, ready for whoever it was who came for them.

"I wouldn't be so quick to attack…"

Misako looked down and shut her eyes, "I know that-"

"Voice? You should… though it's been an awfully long time… we didn't get to see each other when I aged your dear Wu…"

"Sigan…" Garmadon seethed and his sword ignited without another word.

The time ninja laughed and looked at the infant in his arms, "She's a little young for a full term baby…" he observed, smiling a little. "You two must love her so much…" he mockingly cooed at the whimpering infant.

"Give her back!" Garmadon yelled.

Sigan shook his head and tutted, "Well now… I can't make that call… you see… I was sent to aid in Samukai's men to help kidnap her… she's our ransom to rule Ninjago since your father is so compassionate… especially about his own granddaughter I'm sure".

"I will kill you where you stand!"

Misako was quiet the whole time, green eyes fixed on her fidgeting daughter, trying to think of anything she could do to get Sigan to release her. For once in her life she felt helpless, seeing her baby's hand stretch out, as if begging to be in the arms of her mother.

"Well now, how can you when I can so easily drop her?" Sigan taunted. "It sickens me to see parents who love their children so much…" he looked disgusted. "They're whining brats who do nothing but waste your time and energy".

"You sick bastard…" Garmadon's red eyes were pulsating. "You don't know what it's like because you're psychotic maniac… I lost my son… you won't take my daughter too!"

"Then try and take her from me if you're that desperate…" Sigan nonchalantly said, "You really are quite boring son of Masuta… always cursing and shouting and making idiotic threats… _real scary,_" He scoffed. "Don't you get tired of the same old dialogue? You demand something, us villains say no or try me, and then you curse and throw a tantrum…"

Hearing the smooth voice of the time ninja made his blood boil more than he ever felt, body burning with a want to kill the twisted soul before him. Garmadon couldn't rely on his frozen wife and he swung his sword, only to be wrenched out of his hand and it fell to the floor. He decided he didn't need it because he went right for the throat, ready to choke Sigan.

Misako stared in shock at her husband. She prayed that Sigan would at least hold on to her baby if he was to give her to Samukai. Her new motherly instinct kicked in and she tried to grab her husband. "Garmadon stop it! You can hurt her!"

"Wise words miss," he dodged Garmadon next punch. He mildly laughed, "You know… I really just said I would help Samukai… I didn't really have intentions of handing her over… I just wanted him to have his skeletons guard my mission to make sure no one came after me trying to warn you two…" his hand glowed blue. "… Did you know that I could put victims into eternal sleep?"

The parents ceased struggling against one another, blood draining from their faces. "Gods no… I'm begging you…" Misako pleaded. "We'll do anything… I'll do anything…"

Sigan laughed again, "It's such a shame my only goal is to make you suffer…" his glowing hand touched the baby between the eyes.

"Hope…" Garmadon lifted his hand. The baby in the evil ninja's arm slowly drooped her sea green eyes. "You…" he clenched his teeth together angrily, throat drying.

"Cat got your tongue?" Sigan laughed. "Come on… what other curse you wanna yell at me!?"

The time ninja kept laughing and though he could foresee an opponent's next move, he never dodged the fist that hit his jaw, creating a cracking noise.

He opened his eyes and saw Misako's knuckles retracting, "You better frikkin reverse what you did or I'll single handedly break every bone in your damn body," she said darkly. Both men around her looked surprised. The green eyed woman glared up at the taller foe, "You give my daughter back…"

Though his jaw hurt, Sigan managed to talk, one hand where his jaw bone was cracked, "It is irreversible".

She socked him in the nose next, "Is all your magic useless?"

A laugh came from the back of his throat, "I'm am the Time Ninja… once a moment is gone, it cannot be gained back unless I take it from someone else".

"Garmadon! Misako! I chased the Skulkin away but there's someon-" they turned around. Tanaka, covered in claw marks and bleeding in some places, leaned on the doorframe. He looked at both of them and then their baby. "Oh no…"

"Give me one good reason I should let you live…" Misako grabbed him by the folds of his black and cyan tunic. "Give me one good reason you son of a bitch!" she screamed at him.

Tanaka never thought he'd see the day sweet Misako would snap into a screaming rampage instead of Garmadon. It was bizarre seeing so much anger in her face. If all she did was give him two punches and screwed his face up that badly, he wondered how much loss was built up inside of her.

Sigan's blue eyes ceased glowing and his head went slack. Garmadon grabbed his daughter before that and looked at her. "Hope…"

**Fun fact: My brother called me evil after I explained this part in the plot but I wrote it anyways. **

**I mean... I COULD OF easily had the whole thing reversible or have her merely kidnapped and later returned and have her stick around and eventually die a kid... but I can't do that in this story muhaha... **

**How this chapter turned around so bloody fast... for a minute I did feel like sparing my baby oc... oh well... just thought I'd just start accepting that bad things will transpire as far as Garmadon and Misako being together... it's inevitable but it must be done sadly...**

**Thanks for reading, I hope you'll stick around and see what happens next :)**

**~Mar**


	34. Goodbye

Tanaka took Sigan's unconscious body from Misako's tight grasp after a few times of trying to pry her fingers from the enemy's clothing. He ended up having to tear some of the fabric for her hands would not relent.

"Hope… wake up…" Garmadon touched his forehead to his baby's head. "Please… open your beautiful eyes for daddy…"

Misako dropped to her knees and leaned against his side, feeling numb. "Hope…" she lifted her hand to touch her baby's chest. Her heart was still beating and she was breathing.

Tanaka hung his head, "She'll die in a few hours… maybe even less… infants can't go that long without eating…"

"Call Namiko…" Misako choked. "She can help her… she has to…" she started breaking down in tears now that the rage subsided in her.

The lavender ninja let out a quiet sigh and shook his head, "Namiko doesn't have magic like that Misako… you both know that-"

"Go away…" Garmadon plainly said. He didn't sound upset or even mad. There was no emotion in the plain request.

"I did not mean-" Tanaka reached a hand out.

"Just go away…"

Tanaka understood he was not wanted right now and stood, carrying Sigan's body with him to report to Masuta, Wu, and Namiko about what had happened. "I am so sorry…" he whispered.

* * *

><p>"He did WHAT?!" Samukai erupted, angrier than ever.<p>

Wyplash and his pair of underlings shrank back at their master's rage. "We never thought he would betray us and kill the kid!"

Samukai sat back down and covered his face, "We'll have to beg and plead our way out of Masuta's wrath this time!" he said, looking almost scared now that the rage was subsiding. He held a boney hand to his face. "I'm going to kill that bloody Sigan when I find him! This ruins everything!"

* * *

><p>"Just once… just once in my life… I thought I could be happy…" Misako looked up when she hear Garmadon say it. She hugged him tighter. "Guess I was wrong… I'll never be… how much longer until you leave me too?"<p>

"I won't…" she shakily said. "Come on… we'll… we'll get through this…" tears leaked from her green eyes again. Of course they wouldn't be fine though. Everyone would know that.

* * *

><p>Tanaka laid Sigan's body down on the deck of the dojo. Namiko, Wu, and Masuta stood around it. Masuta looked at Namiko and she sighed.<p>

Got on her knees to heal his broken jaw.

Tanaka looked down, "Don't heal him…" he had a bitter look on his pale features.

They all looked at him, "Why? Why shouldn't she?" Wu frowned. "We'll need him to talk about what he's doing here!"

"It sounds petty… but Misako would just break his jaw again… and I would help her…" Tanaka folded his arms and felt like kicking Sigan awake.

"Misako did this to him?" They all gaped at the news. "But… why?"

Tanaka closed his gray eyes and shook his head, "He murdered the baby…" Namiko covered her mouth, tears starting already in her brown eyes. "I wish I could stop him… but he had several Skulkin with him and they held me captive… I got out too late…"

Masuta's bamboo woven hat covered his eyes, "Then… he should pay for his crimes… don't touch him Namiko…" he grabbed her shoulder. "We're going down the mountain…" he looked to his younger son, "Bind him up so he will not escape when he wakes".

"Yes father," Wu quickly ran inside.

When they reached their home, the Misako was on Garmadon's lap, squeezing him tightly until her knuckles were white. They heard her whimpering from downstairs. "I should have murdered him where he stood!" they heard her holding back a sob. "I'm sorry Garmadon…"

"I… I know… he was too… too fast though… we couldn't keep up even if we tried…"

They both jerked up when they heard the stairs creak under the feet of the others. "Oh gods…" Wu's blue eyes widened. "Hope… it's true…" he lowered his head, not bearing to look.

* * *

><p>"Two months… she was two months old," Misako's voice sounded lifeless as she stared at the tombstone next to the one that bared Delilah's name. She gripped her husband's hand to the point he thought it would break. "She's was our baby... and now she's gone…"<p>

Garmadon was silent the whole time, just like when he was nine at his mother's death. When they had reached the monastery that night, the elusive Sigan was gone again and that was three days ago. He hadn't spoken to anyone, even his own wife in that time frame.

Masuta watched the couple for a distance. Namiko, Wu, and Tanaka were either behind or beside the old master, watching too. "Master…" Namiko quietly started, "Why does… bad thing like this happen?"

"I wish I could say Nami…" he sighed and put an arm around the short young woman and the other around his younger son. "We cannot change what was destined… even I couldn't have foreseen this…"

Namiko looked down and hugged herself. "I'll be right back…" Masuta released her and walked up the steps into the monastery, grabbing the first piece of paper she could find and started writing down a letter to Kasai. "He needs to come home…" she told herself.

* * *

><p>Kasai opened the letter from Namiko excitedly, "That from your fiancé Kasai?" Hiroshi laughed seeing his eager expression.<p>

"Yes sir," Kasai opened the piece of paper and quickly started reading it; face falling with every line Namiko had written;

_My Kasai…_

_I want you home… my father was murdered by the skeletons when they attacked the city… but my pain is not as worse as our friends'… Misako gave birth a month early during the attack, her name was Hope, we were so happy the baby was alive and would do well… I was so upset that I was not able to answer your last letter as quickly as I had hoped… and I'm sorry but… I almost killed myself that was how terrible my grief was…_

_Sigan returned and attacked Garmadon and Misako… he murdered baby Hope and escaped, Misako did managed to break his jaw and nose though… no doubt that will take some time to heal… I hope you are allowed to come home soon… things have changed so quickly it makes me sick to my stomach…_

_I love you Kasai; and I hope you and Master Hiroshi are doing well. _

_Namiko Atin_

Kasai dropped the piece of paper and covered his face, starting to feel stressed. He had hoped for happy news and it semi started as it. He felt sick to his stomach now.

Hiroshi looked down and picked it up, "I am sorry about your friends…" he grabbed his shoulder. "If you would like, you may go back for a visit… be with them they will appreciate it I think…"

"Thank you sir!" Kasai got up quickly to pack his things.

**Okay you can all pelt me with rocks like the depressing trash I am... **

**I needed to do this though for reasons of later on chapters... especially the aftermath chapters like "Taking Revenge" and even up till chapter 40 "Spirit Smoke"... yea I have a lot planned out... too bad I'm stuck :/**

**Thanks for reading even though you're all probably mad I killed an innocent and most precious baby...**

**~Mar**


	35. Revenge

Kasai smiled a little on the steps of the monastery but it quickly faded as soon as he walked in and saw the gloom that had taken over the home he once knew.

The first person to greet him was Namiko who immediately sucked him into an unrelenting kiss, making him drop his bag to wrap his arms around her, untangling her unkempt hair. "Nami…" he smiled a little again, stroking the back of her head. "I missed you like you have no idea…"

"Come on…" she took him by the hand and led him in, eager to have the others see he was her, maybe it could help lighten things now that they all were here.

Kasai was surprised to see Garmadon and Misako curled up on the couch inside. "When did they start staying over?"

"Since the baby died…" his fiancé looked down and tried to stifle her tears. "We've all just…" she trailed off. "I want things to be normal… I miss the fun we had… when we felt like we were invincible…"

"As my wife would say… we are not… even I am vulnerable…" Masuta walked out. "Come… let us talk somewhere else… they are sleeping…" he nodded over to his oldest son. "Better to leave them in the peace they have now…"

The two nodded and walked outside again to find Wu sitting the cherry tree with Tanaka at the base, cross-legged.

"The cherries are sour this season…" Wu spit out a pit. "Just like everything else…"

Tanaka let a breath escape his lips, "So it seems…"

"Do not focus on just the bad my son…" Masuta looked up at the blonde who was moping around and throwing several of the sour fruit and pits over the wall and down the side of mountain.

Wu jumped down from his perch, "Don't you care about Hope? Or Mr. Atin? They're both dead… at the hands of enemies we should have destroyed when we had the chance!"

Masuta looked down and folded his hands in his sleeves, "Are you saying revenge would have been the correct path Wu?" He wouldn't be surprised if any of them said yes.

"I'm saying it was the better one… now Garmadon and Misako are lying around like… like…" he was starting to get angry. He loved the little baby girl that belonged to them, the world seemed brighter and even him and his brother got along better. It hurt him just as much to see the dead infant. "They don't have the fire that made them great anymore… they're hollow… they'd rather die…"

"We lost a lot… I understand that…" the Spinjitsu master sighed and shook his head, "But the past is the past…" he looked at all of them, "We cannot change what we did with what we might have or should have done… now… there is only the future… so let us work to make it better and fix what decisions we made".

The four glanced at one another and slowly nodded in silent agreement. They bowed forward, but what Masuta did not see, was their crossed fingers behind their backs.

Not long after, Garmadon and Misako slowly came out of the monastery, numb to the presence of Kasai who returned home for a short while. "Are you gonna be okay?" Tanaka looked up.

"No…" Misako sat down next to him, pulling her knees to her chest. There was a picture in her hand. It was Hope when they took her home. "I miss my baby girl…" she sniffed. "I miss that toothless smile… and those beautiful eyes…"

"Let's get revenge then…"

Everyone looked at Wu when he said it. It was rather unlike him being he always listened to what his father told them to do with little to no questions about an order. He looked up with a dark look in his eyes. "No one screws with my family…"

"Looks like my goody two shoes brother is getting a taste of the other side… how it feels to have what you loved dragged away from you" Garmadon scoffed and looked back, "You sure you're not afraid of the old man?" He raised an eyebrow.

Wu shook his head, "No… I'm not…"

For the first time in years, the two brothers finally saw eye to eye and put aside the childish spats over the girl they both loved or the stupid everyday things that brothers would fight over. Garmadon stood up, looking down at the shorter brother and gave a hint of a smile.

"How would we even find Sigan? It could take years for all we know…" Namiko folded her arms, brown eyes quickly shifting around, making sure Masuta would not hear them going behind his back.

Kasai shook his head, "And I only have a week… then I have to return to master Hiroshi…" he scratched the back of his ear.

Tanaka stood up, "Give me some time and I could find him… he said so himself that he was acting on his own… Samukai never meant to kill her…"

Misako stood up next, "I have a good hunch where that bastard might be hiding…" her bottom lip quivered.

It was almost dark when the six left the monastery together without a word to Masuta who was inside the locked library. Hopefully he wouldn't come out till after they came back. Garmadon was the last to be out of the monastery though. "You coming?" Misako frowned.

"Oh… yea…" Garmadon nodded and when she left the room, he folded a piece of paper over and left it on the table, "Goodbye father…" he muttered to himself.

The six, with weapons in hand followed Tanaka who was the only other person who knew where their target's location was exactly. It was the dead of night when Tanaka stopped everyone, "We're here…"

They poked out from behind the leafy bushes and saw a figure pacing back and forth around a roaring fire. "That damn woman!" he shouted, hold a hand to his jaw which still hurt, "I should have killed her too! I should have killed all of them!"

"Sigan…" Garmadon growled. Misako pulled him back abruptly.

"Heel boy…" she frowned, still looking at the Time Ninja angrily. "I want to end him too… but we need to surround him without him knowing… remember… he can see around… what?" she looked back at Wu and Kasai, "About five to ten seconds ahead of what's going to happen?"

"Five at best…" Wu nodded.

"Split in three groups… Kasai and Wu and Tanaka and Namiko…" she snapped her fingers. "Tanaka and Namiko will go out first… then Kasai and Wu… and then us…"

The four nodded and broke away from the couple to carry out their part of the plan.

Masuta walked out to the courtyard and found no trace of his sons or students. He frowned and checked every room in the monastery and found nothing. That when he found a note written on the table.

He took it off and opened it.

Father…

_I don't care about what you taught us. _

_You taught us to stand against evil; and if a psycho time maniac murdering my baby girl isn't evil, than I sure as hell gonna forget everything you ever taught because you didn't want us going after Sigan._

_We don't know where he is, but we'll track him and down and kill him for everything he's done to us._

_You must be surprised I am telling you any of this because I know you're going to find us and try to stop us. I just wanted to let you know you are no longer my father and I will never be your son by this act of defiance I am making against you. I will never come back and I'm pretty sure our team won't take orders from a selfish man like you._

_This is goodbye forever you lying jerk!_

_-Garmadon _

"I did lie to you many times…" Masuta shook his head. "But I know where you went you foolish boy…"

Sigan stopped his pacing and looked up, "Wait a minut-"

"HI-YA!" A cloud of smoke clouded the vision of the ninja of time.

"You sly bastards… I should have known you'd track me down!" Sigan shut his eyes and laughed a little still holding to his swollen jaw. "That's why I called for some help…"

"Help?" Misako's green eyes widened. "What does he mean by that?" she remained hidden in her position.

A woman with a mask on kicked her and her husband forward, out of their hiding place, "Miss me bitch?" she laughed.

"I remember that voice…" Garmadon growled. "Hatsu…"

**Hatsu's back :D I might do a thing where she'll be Sigan's girl or something... IDK yet... would you believe this story is over 50,000 words and 115 pages in mircrosoft!? And I still have more. This has to be my longest story yet...**

**Thanks for reading :D **

**~Mar**


	36. Rage

"Hei Titanshi if ya don't mind," Hatsu smirked.

"Introduce me why don't you?" another voice said.

Hatus rolled her eyes and took off the mask, "Fine then…" she smirked and the mask floated, "Say hello to an ancient cult object, Mask of Malice… has a soul and mind… he amplifies my dark magic!"

"Thank you dear… you may put me back on now"

Hatsu reached out and placed him back on her face. "Now move it!" she prodded them both.

Wu and Kasai were being dragged by a woman with slimy blue skin and webbing between her fingers and toes. "Meet Kappa, I met her while in that fancy prison; we escaped together when Sigan broke us out… or well, we seduced the guards while Sigan grabbed the keys…" she rolled her fuchsia eyes.

They both noticed the two youngest boys with love struck looks on their faces, "She's a siren…" Tanaka coughed on his own tear gas with Namiko as it cleared.

"Now… you came to get revenge on me… but now you'll have to take all three of us on," Sigan laughed.

"Four! I think you mean four!" Everyone looked at the mask Hatsu wore and Sigan loudly sighed in annoyance.

"Four! All FOUR of us!" he narrowed his eyes, glaring at the mask. "Say your prayers ninja… because you will die tonight… and we will take the Golden Weapons for ourselves and rule the land!"

Wu started coming out of his love struck daze and shook his head. "Wait… if one of you is a mask… how can he hold a weapon?" He blinked, looking confused.

"Shut up! Shut up you stupid brat!" the mask snapped off angrily.

Hatsu removed him quickly, "You're being too loud!" she growled and threw him.

All six ninjas' wrists were bounded and they were lined up, sitting on their knees, "There are four of them and six of us! We can take them down!" Kasai started shouted, struggling to move.

Sigan planted his heavy boot on the black haired teen's face; sending him backwards, head slamming into the dirt. "Shut up!" he yelled even louder. "You still act like the little brats I knew… and if you recall, I would have killed you if it wasn't for your girlfriend!"

"You should not talk to my students in such a manner…"

The six looked up surprised, "Father?" Wu whispered, going pale.

Masuta looked at his two sons but looked longer at Garmadon, "I got your note…" The brunette brother grimaced. He then looked back at the enemies at hand. "Now I see you have taken my student's weapons… give them back now please…" He politely smiled.

"Yea right… without these, you're nothing!" Hatsu clutched the scythe in her spindly fingers.

The blonde master shook his head quietly, "That's not something I like to hear young lady," he tutted. "It seems that I should send you all back to the prison where you belong," he smiled. "I will admit, it shall be tricky being you possess the four weapons that contain the same power I own… but it is not impossible to defeat you".

Sigan snapped his fingers and the water siren twirled a gold shurakin around her finger and launched it. The master caught it and shook his head, "You see… you have not been trained in the use of these weapons as they have…" he nodded over to the tied up row of ninja. "You are all novices and that is how I will defeat you".

Hatsu took a step back, black, scaly wings sprouting from her back as she launched herself forward with the scythe blade. With precision, the one in gold clasped the sickle blade between both hands and flung her around, slamming against a tree.

He looked back at Sigan as he stalked over next, "You defeated the ladies… but how about me old man?" the psychotic ninja laughed and held the sword of fire in his hand. "I'm always a step ahead…"

"But I am the creator of Ninjago." The six young adults stared as their master took down each enemy with little to no effort. He gracefully dodged the time ninja's attacks. "And I see you continue to nurse the wound my daughter-in-law gave you…"

The comment made Sigan even angrier, "I should have murdered the little bitch when I had the chance!" he roared.

It was just the amount of unbalance needed to catch him by the arm and flung him around to join the other girls in a one flopped over pile, "You all are very bad people… escaped prison like this… I should make sure you never get out again!" He looked back at the others still tied up.

Masuta picked up the golden sword and tossed it to them so they could start cutting the thick twine that was binding their hands. "And I shall deal with you six later…"

They all exchanged glances worriedly, for he would not simply let this one slide.

* * *

><p>All six young men and women were standing in a line, looking down at their feet, taking the beaten they all knew they would get. The only ones who didn't look ashamed was Garmadon and Misako.<p>

"You all obviously have no idea how angry I am…" the old man started. "For one; you disobeyed my orders and went on a vendetta to murder your attacker… to seek revenge!" he was very serious.

They all lowered their heads more, taking the verbal beat down. Garmadon's eyes were glowing brighter than they ever had. His head was only one now held high, in a sense, proud to disobey. Curses and insults were begging to escape his mouth but he kept it shut, the strain to do so could be seen all of over his red face.

"Revenge is not the way of the ninja! I thought I instilled that in all of you!"

Wu watery eyes finally gave and he looked up, "Father; Sigan murdered an innocent child! He had no reason other than you stopping him that night from taking the Golden Weapons which led to Kasai almost killing him and that led to Hope's death!"

Garmadon looked at his brother to his left. Wu was the first to speak out against and defend their actions of disobedience? _"Wu… what the hell are you doing?"_

Masuta looked at the son that looked most like him, "He is a dangerous psychopath... I understand… but how you went about it tonight was stupid and foolhardy!"

"He murdered my baby!" Garmadon finally seethed next, that was the last straw. "Your own granddaughter… how can you not care about her? How can you remain so passive to point of not caring? If we don't teach these people to stay in their place, then what protector of Ninjago are you!?" he shouted.

Misako winced and closed her eyes at his yells that echoed in the monastery. She didn't have the fire in her to shout back at their teacher like what her husband was doing. "I should tell everyone how useless you are!"

"I saved your lives tonight-"

"You saved us because the Golden Weapons were in danger… you wouldn't have come after me or anyone else otherwise!"

Masuta pointed a finger, "Don't you dare say that!"

"You foresaw Hope dying didn't you?" Masuta was silent at the question, "DIDN'T YOU!?"

Kasai and Wu held the older one back, he would tear apart his father if he got the chance to, "You did; you came so slowly to come and help! You useless bastard," he started quieting down a little. "You could have helped her couldn't you of? Even if Namiko couldn't of helped, you could of!"

"You cannot change what is destined… And that note you left me Garmadon?" he started scolding him. "You never had any respect for me as your father or teacher… why should I return it? Do unto others as they would have unto you…" he quoted the old proverb.

Garmadon clenched his teeth together, "Because… you lied to me about mom… you lied about what I am… and you're just covering all of this up and blaming me!"

"Stop victimizing yourself! It is pathetic and childish!"

"I am the victim!" Garmadon snapped back. "I'm like this because of you; you self righteous fool!"

Masuta rolled his eyes, "And how is you getting bit by a snake my fault? That is what you get for sticking your hands where they don't belong you impudent child…"

Garmadon growled with frustration. "Who the hell even let's their kids play with ancient swords? And then you make us scared to lose them?" All Misako did was squeeze his shoulder at this point, it was going too far.

"That. Is. Enough." Masuta harshly said. He quickly grew tired of the same old conversation with him. "Because of your actions tonight… I confiscate your Golden Weapons!" Masuta put his foot down.

Misako, Wu, and Tanaka looked up as well in shock. The weapons that were given to them were placed on the rack where they had never touched for several years, "It was a mistake I see letting you have that power… you all are far too young to possess such a responsibility!"

His blue eyes flicked back, "If you do not wish me to be your master… then fine… I see how it is… you all acted according to what you want… and if you want to disobey me, then you will no longer have further training and instruction from me…"

"Father…" Wu reached out hand and trailed off.

Masuta eyed the blonde, "And what is it my son?"

Wu looked down and sighed, "Don't… don't be mad with Garmadon… It was my idea to go after Sigan, don't blame it on everyone… don't be mad… I coaxed them into coming…" he wiped his eyes. "Hope wasn't even my daughter and I was so upset… and… I only fed into Garmadon's anger… it's my fault he's upset… as for the remark about the swords… well it was my fault he got bit… I was too scared as a kid to get the sword myself…"

Garmadon looked over, eyes widened at Wu taking the blame and attention away from him… for him "Just… don't be mad at everyone because of tonight… okay? Garmadon doesn't know any better…"

_"__Did you have to add that last part you stupid runt?" _Garmadon puffed to himself.

"I shall take that into consideration Wu… thank you for telling me…" Masuta walked out.

"I picked on you my entire life…" Garmadon quietly said, "And you always sat there at my side with Misako… I said I hated you… blamed you for stuff I did… I did even blame you for the snake bite when we were kids… and you took the blame for something stupid we all jumped into equally? You took all the anger at me and redirected it… Why?"

Wu pulled on the bottom of his shirt and nodded, "You say you hate me… and it… hurts when you do… but you don't know any better brother…"

Tanaka smiled a little and Kasai and Namiko quietly watched on.

"But I make the decision to say it… how can I not know any better?" his red eyes looked down at his much shorter brother. "You just sit there and take it all…"

Wu shrugged and put his hands in his pockets. "I hate fighting with you… so… I guess if I try and let you get out what needs to be let out…" he looked up. "So… you can yell at me more if you want…"

Garmadon looked down, the corner of his mouth tugged up a little, "You little shit…" Wu looked up, knowing it wasn't an insult. "You took the blame because father wouldn't get angry at you directly… pretty sly of you… and I never thought you'd take the blame for something you stupid goody toe shoes…"

Wu couldn't help but let a little smile slip onto his face. That part was half true. "uh… can I hug you?" he meekly asked. The older brother rolled his eyes and sighed, limply holding his arms out which prompted Wu to hug him.

"So… what are we going to do now?" Namiko squeaked, tugging on her long, hanging hair.

Misako let out a breath, "Well… Garmadon and I do what we've always done…"

"I'll… I'll start up the tavern again…" Namiko sniffed and smiled a little, "I think life needs to come back to that old place…"

Kasai nodded, "I reckon… I'll finish my training with Hiroshi… maybe start up a blacksmith shop of my own…" he bopped Namiko on the nose lovingly, "Then maybe marry you…" they hugged.

Wu shrugged, "I'll stay here with Tanaka then…" he looked over at the oldest boy of the group.

He shook his head though and they looked surprised, "I am leaving this place too…" he looked around, "I have learned so much here… and I really must thank you all…" he smiled. "I will be going solo maybe for a while…" he looked down, "I heard from my grandfather that… my parents were somewhere in the labyrinth… I want to go and see if they could still be alive".

"Well good luck with that," Misako hugged him with Namiko. "We wish you well Tana…"

"I'll miss you all… but I'll see you all soon, I promise that…"

**Look at this doozy of chapter! It killed me ;-; **

**I found the Mask of Malice amusing in Stone Cold... maybe you'll see him again :3 I figured "Why would there be a mask that could talk?" So I made him a cult artifact for Hatsu...**

**Thanks for reading :) **

**~Mar**


	37. Healing

Misako pushed her husband away, curling up more on her side of the bed. "Come on… this isn't like you…" he sighed and wrapped his arms around her tightly.

"Garmadon stop…" she finally said with a heavy sigh, "I don't want to tonight…" she turned her face into her pillow, curling her body up more.

"You didn't want to last night either… or the night before…" he kissed the back of her head. "I don't mind some personal space but… it feels like you don't want me around at all anymore…" he looked hurt.

She sighed and shook her head, "I want you around… gods of Spinjitsu I love you more than you'll ever know…" she twisted her body so just her legs sideways and torso was on her back and ruffled his darker hair, hands touching his face gently, "I just… I can't…"

He frowned, "You can't what?"

She looked up with bloodshot eyes; "get pregnant again…" she wiped her eyes with her long sleeves. "I don't think I could go through that again for nothing…"

He slowly nodded, "Okay but…" he held her shaking hands. "I… know no one can replace her… but… please? I waited so long with her… and she was just… ripped away…"

She sniffed and wiped the tear from his left eye. "I know… but I can't take that again…" she shook her head and repeated, "if we have so many enemies… I don't want to have a child be at constant risk of dying or getting kidnapped… or…" she started crying again.

"Oh Misako…" Garmadon didn't want to see her cry again, but she couldn't help it. They wrapped their arms around each other, giving into quiet tears. "Shh… it's okay… I'm completely fine with it… don't worry…" he consoled her. He shut his glowing red eyes and stroked the back of her head. "It's okay…"

Kasai let out a breath and went through the couple of letters from his friends. "Well… at least we're all healing…" he muttered to himself and shook his head, folding up the one from Namiko and pulled out a pen, ready to respond to the three separate letters.

"Ah Kasai, just who I wanted to see," Hiroshi smiled.

The black haired young man looked up and smiled a little, "What is it master?" he blinked, unsure as to why he was looking for him this early in the morning.

"Well, it's been more than another three months since you came back from your visit… and you've been here for about six… I'm… considering… with the work you've been doing here…" he chuckled, "People are saying I'm crazy for doing this but I think you're ready to stand alone…"

"You mean…"

"Yes Kasai, you are a prodigy in the art of blacksmiths and I think you have nothing left to learn from me, you picked it all up so quick!" he smiled warmly. "Why don't… you test your skills by making a ring for that girl you like?"

Kasai blushed and looked down and slowly nodded. "Thank you master…" he smiled back.

Namiko slid another few beers down the counter with a cheery smile on her face. Over the past few months she got the tavern up and running again all on her own. Well; with some help from Wu of course.

"Hey Nami!" she turned her head at the young man.

"What is it Jack?" she leaned on the counter, "Don't tell me you finished that ale already!" she laughed playfully. One thing she enjoyed about being in charge of the bar was because she made the rules and could deny them a drink and was able to tease them all she wanted.

"Nah, I'm still working on," he shook his head with chuckle. "Just wanted to know what a pretty little thing like you is running a bar and is still single?" he winked.

The brunette laughed again and stood up with a hand on her hip, she always loved flirting and playing around with her regulars like Jack. "Guess I'm just waiting for the right guy… Right Tana?" she looked at the black haired young man on the last stool.

"Well, I guess you could say that," his gray eyes winked at her. Of course she was committed to someone, being, Kasai. He found enjoyment in seeing the young woman being filled with life again.

"Yes you could say that!"

Her heart skipped a beat and she saw Kasai come and take a seat next to Jack. "That's my lady you're talkin to there Jack," he lightly punched him in the shoulder. "That is… if she'll still have me…" he brandished a silver ring with a decent size garnet encrusted in it.

Namiko covered her mouth, "You actually got a ring!?"

Kasai laughed, "I did more than that… I made it… just for you,"

"Aww," a couple of girls in a table behind the two said in unison.

The brunette behind the bar looked down and laughed, "Round of drinks on the house!"

Everyone inside cheered. Kasai leaned over the bar counter to kiss his bride to be, slipping the silver and garnet ring on her left ring finger. "Does that mean you're done?" she hopefully asked.

"I of course plan on visiting Hiroshi," Kasai smiled, though he viewed Masuta as a father figure, being he grew up without his dad, Hiroshi was a more nurturing kind of figure he grown to like over the past seven months. "but… yes… I'm free to stand on my own… as of right now of course…" he pecked her lips again.

Wu moped around the monastery which was all he ever did since the team had split up. Tanaka visited more than the others, but it was still lonely for him. Everyone once in a while he dropped by his brother's home, Misako happy to see him and Garmadon was just indifferent about his presence. It was still better than fighting with each other.

He would often stare at the weapons that were taken from them, sitting idly on the wall, gathering dust. He ached for his nun chucks of lightning, wanting to feel the electricity through him again. But what his father said was law to him and he never dared to touch them.

The hardest part about staying at home was the graves. Twice a day he sat in between the headstones of his mother and niece, feeling sadder just because there was nothing he could do.

"At least… everyone found something to do with their lives…" Wu stared at the picture of the group of six; they all were sitting on the deck of the monastery, happy and smiles untainted with loss and grief on their faces. His brother was around fifteen so they all were still rather young, just before Misako confessed she loved him. "Everyone except me…" he frowned.

"Something troubles you?"

Wu looked up as his father took a seat opposite of him. "Y-yea…" he quietly said.

Masuta nodded. "Wu… why don't you think you have a life? Why do you compare yourselves to the others?"

The blonde young man looked down and slid the picture over. "Garmadon and Misako got married and work and… have a life… Kasai became a blacksmith… Namiko runs the bar and they're getting married now… Tanaka is happy on his own wanderings and has a family to go back to… I just… I have nothing…"

"You are my son and…" he smiled a little, "I suppose that… when the time comes, you will take my place…"

Wu's blue eyes widened, he was speechless, "But… dad… I… I couldn't… Garmadon is the better fighter… he knows more than I do-"

"About fighting," Masuta hushed his youngest son. "Your future I can see… you will be stronger and maybe even wiser than I would be… your brother… well… I can't foresee what will become of him in the future…" he held Wu's hand. "Just… be wary of your older brother… I do not know what could become of him when I am dead and gone…"

"Don't say that!" Wu shouted. "You lived for thousands of years! You'll outlive us too".

"I don't know about that one Wu…" He scratched the back of his head. "At this rate… I don't know how much longer I actually have…" He looked him in the eye, "And no father should have to bury their child… your brother can understand that much…"

Wu slowly nodded.

Days turned into weeks and Kasai and Namiko got married and shortly after Tanaka left once again. It was eight months in total that had gone by since the six were at their lowest point, but things started to look brighter once more.

Misako came out, smiling as Garmadon waited for her to get off of work, "You seem rather cheery…" he commented, "What happened?"

"They put me at head of the department," she squealed. "Not only that but there are new interns I have to be in charge of! Ha!" She jumped into his arms excitedly.

He smiled, "Well after what? Four years of being side kick secretary I'd imagine you'd get bumped up sooner or later," he kissed her cheek. He started the car up, "Tanaka's back in town… we're all meeting up at the tavern I think".

She nodded, "Yea… that sounds nice," she leaned back in her seat. "I wonder what went on… he's been gone for three months…"

Namiko waved over from the bar when they parked and came in. She had a worried look though when they drew closer, "Uh… Tanaka didn't have such a good time…" she looked to a table in the far corner of the room. The couple exchanged worried looks and walked over with Namiko. Wu and Kasai were already sitting on the other side of the small table.

"Hey Tana…" Misako smiled a little, "What… did you find?"

The other young men looked up at the three newcomers. Tanaka looked rather upset. His skin was paler than normal and there were dark blue and black rings under his eyes adding to the feeling that he may have had too much to drink and not enough sleep. "I uh… had a run in with Cardinsto again…" he scratched behind his ear.

The exchanged looks, how could they forget the nature wizard who tried to kill them when they were young teenagers camping in the forest as survival lesson?

"And… my parents were apparently explorers… they got lost in the labyrinth and he killed them…"

_Tanaka prepared to cut his way through the thick foliage when the vines came to life and restrained him. "Well hello there… what do I have here?" A gruff voice said and Cardinsto came out. His dark green and brown robes made him blend in with the jungle vegetation. _

_The younger man's light gray eyes widened, "I'm surprised you don't remember me… I was one of the six students you attacked years back…" he smiled. "Tanaka Fugiyoka". He reintroduced himself. _

_"__Oh yes I remember you now," the wizard nodded. "Why are you here?"_

_"__I was told the last place my parents went to explore was here… they never came back…" he briefly explained. "Do you know where they would be?"_

_"__Hmm," Cardinsto turned and tried to recall the two people. People came in went, some people he let go and others weren't so lucky. "Oh yes… a man and a woman came by many years back… What were their names… oh yes the man was Yang and the woman, I assumed his wife, was… Dottie I think"._

_"__That's them!" Tanaka grinned, "Where can I find them are they still here or did they move on?" he asked eagerly._

_Cardinsto folded his arms and sighed, "I may not like you but I suppose you ought to know the truth boy, I killed them for trespassing". Tanaka's smile faded quickly. "I kept up signs and everything saying that mortals were not welcomed but you parents just had to meddle… they were explorers and botanists… I'd tell you I'm sorry but I really don't care!" He released his vines from the lavender and gray clothes man. "Get lost before I'll have you meet the same fate!" _

_Tanaka's body started shaking, different emotions he had never felt before were running wild in his head as he turned and ran all the way back to Yosho and basically collapsed on the hard wood floor of his grandparents' home. "Grandfather!" his voice cracked. The young man's lungs were burning with a white hot sensation and his throat was dry as he tried to clear his head. _

_"__What is it?" Armin asked. "What happened? You look terrible! What did you find?!" he started asking questions. "No wait, hold on, let me get your grandmother and uncle!" he ran into the other room, "Ayana! Mason! Get in here! Tanaka is home!" _

_Both came in quickly and Tanaka wiped his eyes, "They're dead… I ran into a wizard once during my training with Masuta. During a survival lesson, we were attack by a wizard named Cardinsto… I met him again while I was exploring and… and he said he killed them for trespassing…"_

_His grandmother gasped, covering her mouth. Mason wrapped an arm around her. "I lost two of my sons!" she looked just as upset as Tanaka did. The ninja's body ached as he walked forward to hug his grandmother. _

He ball one hand up and slammed his fist on the table; glasses clattering from the sudden motion. "So like the lot of you… I don't have parents either…" he bitterly said.

Misako sat right next to him, "Hey… we're all a family…" she smiled, "That was what was instilled in me since I was little… and I think you need to start believing it to… and it might have always been… we're all running from something and Masuta took everyone in and gave us a place to call home"

The older man sighed and placed his stein down and nodded, "I guess you're right…" he wiped his eyes, "I never really knew them either… like you…"

"Believe me I know how it feels finding out… especially when they dumped you wherever to find your own way… but I think your parents truly cared… they wanted to come back to you I'm sure…" she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Mine never cared if they came back or not..."

Tanaka slowly nodded at her words. "This is my home… you are all correct…" he set his drink down. "I think this will be my last drink…" he laughed a little and slid it over to Namiko, "I think seven is enough… you should have stopped me after three…"

The brunette bar maid took it and smiled with a quiet nod, "Yes… yes I think that's a few too many…" she looked down, "I knew you were upset though… and you don't get as drunk as Kasai or Garmadon…"

"Hey!" Both said in unison.

"Enough about me…" Tanaka looked weakly at Misako. "Are… you thinking about another child? What's gone on since the last time I was here?"

She looked down and folded her arms on the table, lowering her head. "No…" she mumbled, "No we are not thinking about trying for a third time…" she wiped the tear bubbles in her eyes.

"Third times a charm right?" Wu meekly asked, half laughing. He was just trying to lighten the sudden serious mood. Garmadon shook his head, making eye contact with his younger brother, prompting him to shut his far too talkative mouth.

Misako sniffed and rested her forehead on her left hand. "Ya know… with all the crap we've put up with over all these long years… I'm happy to know we're all still alive at least…" she let a small smile slip.

"Damn straight," Kasai slammed his fist on the table and grinned, "Ain't nothing's gonna split us up!" he laughed.

**Nice long chapters for your enjoyment. I hate in between stuff like this but I it gets good with the next few chapters with the spirit smoke a special uh... book thing :D oh and baby Kai will be here soon just to let ya know ;) **

**thank you for reading :)**

**~Mar**


	38. Legend

Days came and went, not a week would go by without hearing about problems across the land. Wu took on more responsibility as the one to settle things with most of the unknown troublemakers with Tanaka while the other four were occupied with day to day lives.

"You want to what?" Namiko's mouth dropped. The twenty six year old's brown eyes widened; surprised he actually even considered the thought of moving out of Ninjago City.

Her husband tilted his head back and forth, knowing Namiko wouldn't be crazy about the idea. "I know it's a big change…" he scratched the back of his head, looking down, "I know you want to keep the bar running because… of your father and all… but I don't think… we should stay here anymore…"

She folded her arms and looked down, "Why don't you want to stay in the city anymore?" She quietly asked, curious as to why the sudden desire.

He shrugged, "I don't really know… I always loved it here but… maybe a change of scenery would be nice too ya know? I guess… I still get painful memories about my mom in all honesty…" he looked away, shoving his hands in his pockets. She nodded, understanding his reasons. "Where would you like to live if you had to choose besides here?" he smiled.

She frowned and pressed her lips together, thinking, "Well… that quiet little valley? Ya know, Ignacia? It's only a couple of miles away from the city limits… we'd still be close to here…"

He quickly kissed her off guard, "That sounds perfect… and you can keep the bar too if ya like," he picked her up. "And it'd be a perfect place to raise kids…" Namiko blushed at the idea. Even days before they were married, they started talking about the idea. Personally she thought he'd make a wonderful father. "Well come on, let's go see if there are any places!" he let go of her.

* * *

><p>Wu lowered his face guard mask with a wide smirk on his face, "Are ya ready Tana?"<p>

Tanaka raised the bamboo sword and gave a brief smile behind his mask, "I am ready whenever you are young Wu". He spread his feet apart, still and ready. "You may have the first move if you desire…"

Wu nodded grateful and they took positions. Tanaka was like Garmadon, tall and built strong. Wu had a much more narrow frame and was more wiry so it gave a speed and maneuverability gain that a brawler like Tanaka didn't have. Still though, Tanaka could be just as fast.

The two young men started towards each other, raising the heavy kendo training swords. Masuta sat on the deck and watched them. It was rather nice Tanaka had returned to stay, hopefully for much longer before he decided to go off and wander Ninjago again. Wu was awfully lonely and was rather upset when Kasai said he'd be moving down the road to the west valley, frankly so did the Spinjitsu Master.

His students had grown up, and that was that though. He did miss the days they all lived together and laughed and trained without a care in the world. They tried to retain the same friendship, but life had changed. He was always concerned though for them all, especially his oldest son.

Masuta felt in his old bones that something was coming and rather soon. He didn't know what it was; all he saw was darkness and a looming threat. He wouldn't dare share it with any of the others, not until he could see more.

Tanaka finally hit Wu who collapsed to the ground, feeling his strained arms tire and drop. "Hehe… nice one," he heavily breathed, trying to laugh but felt too tired. Tanaka extended his hand helped the short blonde up, un strapping the heavy leather padding and returning them to their rightful place on the racks.

"You two did well," Masuta commented as they walked by. "You've been improving Wu…" he patted his shoulder as he passed the shorter blonde.

The blonde smiled wide, happy to hear it. "Thanks dad," he slid the door shut behind them when they made it inside. "So… Kasai and Namiko said they needed help moving tomorrow, you should see the place they got, it's really nice!" Tanaka shut the refrigerator. "I was going to go over, you gonna come?"

"Of course," Wu plopped down on the couch and nodded. "Knowing my brother and Misako… they'll be too busy to come by…" He leaned on the arm of the couch and sighed. "I wish they end up coming… I haven't seen either in a while… well, Misako tries to call…"

Tanaka smiled, "It really is amazing how after all the infliction Garmadon has done to you over the past… what? Twenty seven years; you always go back hoping he'll be better," he tilted his head. "Why is that?"

"Well you don't have an older brother so… you don't really understand… it's like I said the night we fought Sigan, Kappa, and Hatsu…" he looked down. "He's my brother…" he sucked in a breath, "And… well I guess you could say I… admire him in a sense… he's pretty tough to go through what's happened over the past few years… not to mention I can't say I blame him for always beating me up, I blame myself too for what happened to him…"

Tanaka raised a thick eyebrow, "What do you mean you blame yourself? Wu you were five years old… how could anyone possibly see the outcome of you being scared?"

Wu rolled his bright blue eyed, "Oh I don't know; it is my fault though," he restated. "I'm just saying that he's not all that bad and if he's a jerk it's not his fault," he shrugged.

"Okay Wu, I get it," the older one chuckled as he sat back against the cushions, "Over my time away I came across so much information and some of it pertained to this… Great Devourer…"

Wu looked up quickly, sitting on his knees, partially excited, "Tell me everything you know".

Tanaka nodded, "Okay then…" he inhaled with a hint of a smile on his pale face seeing Wu with undivided, sing minded attention. "People normally die from its venom back in the old days when it was alibe… funny how Garmadon is probably so stupidly stubborn and strong that all it did was make him… well… evil…" he chuckled a little.

Wu pointed at the older ninja. "My brother is not evil-"

Tanak's pale gray eyes turned dead serious now. "He is Wu… how many people have we encountered that said so? Cardinsto… Hatsu… Gahrann… Samukai and Sigan… all of them know the legend… everyone who treads the dark path can recognize when someone else is… it's just something they can see based on Garmadon's rash action and attitude."

Wu's eyebrows went up, "How- what legend?!" he shook his head, completely surprised. His father had never mentioned such a legend.

"Haven't you heard of it?" Tanaka paused, "Oh yes… your father keeps many secrets from his students… well it's a good thing he called us true ninja a while back so now we have a right to know these things." he crossed his leg over his knee, "Well that legend I heard was that there will be a green ninja… one that will rise above four and defeat the dark lord…"

The short blonde ninja sat back against the couch and let out a breath, obviously having a lovely fantasy moment play out in his head, judging by his wide eyes. "Wow… I'm going to defeat my brother-"

"How do you know it's even you?" Tanaka blinked, taken back at the fact that's what Wu was thinking.

Wu tilted his head back and forth and sheepishly grinned, "Well I mean… I control light… it makes sense right? Two brothers… one good and one evil! It makes sense!" He sounded rather confident in his rash assumption.

The one in lavender sighed, "Shame we don't know… it might not be you Wu… It could be me… maybe Misako… it could be someone we haven't even met yet for all we know… and Garmadon doesn't really show any signs of wanting to rule the world… we could be wrong about him being the dark one".

Wu nodded quickly, "Yea… yea… for all we know; it's just a legend! Who says legends are true!? Like how do we really know my father was just spinning some old story about when he fought the _Overlord?_" he laughed.

* * *

><p>"Would you look at this!?" Misako clapped her hands together excitedly, "This is the new exhibit on the creation of Ninjago and the prophecy of the Overlord!" she showed her husband. "The archeologists up north by the shore dug up some stone warrior weapons and these old stones with prophecy engravings!"<p>

Garmadon nodded and looked at it, "And you put all of this together?!" he looked back her, looking mildly impressed.

She nodded quickly, bouncing on the balls of her feet, "Yea, well, with the help of some others…" she looked around and frowned, "Oh where are they anyways?" she heard laughter from the office she shared as a break room with the others. "Sonia, Daniel…" she sighed.

"What? We're on break!" a chestnut haired young woman laughed.

Misako raised an eyebrow, "Again?" She looked around, "Where's Rose and Jamie?"

Daniel shrugged and sat back in the swivel chair, "Hell if we know… probably running some papers to the boss…" he opened a box, "Donut?"

The green eyed woman laughed and shook her head, "Nah I'm good… we're gonna go get dinner. I'm gonna clock out though… have fun locking up you two when the night guard comes by!" she tossed the keys to the two.

The blonde one caught it with one hand, "See ya on Monday Mimi," he waved a little.

The two walked through the front doors. The sun started going down, "So… do you want to help Kasai and Namiko move tomorrow?" Misako put her hands in her pockets.

Garmadon frowned, looking at his feet as they walked down the block, "I don't know… if you want to…"

"Well, if you want to sleep in… no one will judge you," she kissed his cheek. "I actually have some paper work to do on some grants Mr. Wilson is e-mailing anyways… but we should go over for a little bit, they are our friends."

**I have been so lazy... sorry... expect updates and all of that... I've been working on "Getting Back Together" and it has been amusing so far so maybe I can post that later... So... yea I have nothing more to say...**

**Thanks for reading**

**~Mar**


	39. Spirit Smoke

Wu sat across from his father, cross-legged on the floor, candles lit around them. "Now… I think it's time you were properly taught the use of spirit smoke my son," Masuta lit incense and placed it in the holder. "In the twenty seven years you have lived… it is time I passed along all of my knowledge to you…"

"Shouldn't Garmadon be here too though?" Wu frowned.

The much older Spinjitsu Master sighed and shook his head, "Wu; Garmadon is not like you… he has… that terrible venom in his blood and I cannot allow him to know all of my secrets like I can with you, now hush and listen please".

"Yes sir…" Wu lowered his head, feeling bad.

His father nodded, "Good, now… close your eyes… clear you mind… and breathe…" Wu did as he was told. He always hated the smell of the incense though; guess he would have to learn to love it if he would use this skill. "Now… this is your first time… so do not expect to see anything major happen".

Wu nodded, eyes still shut.

He felt a weird sensation through his muscles as he tensed up, hands tightly grabbing his knees, knuckles turning white. He clenched his teeth together and started trembling.

_"__Dad?"_

_"__Goodbye brother…"_

_"__GARMADON STOP!" _

_Four young men in black, white, blue, and red; one in green lifted above their heads, two brothers and the girl they fought over, one is the light, one tainted forever._

Wu opened his eyes, sweat dripping down his face. His father opened his eyes, staring at his youngest son, "Wu… what is it?" The young man tried to stop his shaking and he painfully swallowed.

"I… I'm fine… odd sensation is all…" he coughed and wiped his face.

"You look as though you have seen a ghost!" Masuta sat on his knees and held a hand to Wu's face. "What did you see son?"

Wu shook his head quickly, "I didn't see anything… I saw… just… it wasn't anything…" he voided his eyes and tried to relax. It was a complete lie though because he was pretty sure he saw something incredibly important.

The Spinjitsu Master slowly nodded, "Well then… I suppose we can always try again tomorrow; right?" Wuw asn't telling him something, the younger one couldn't make it any more obvious.

"Yes sir…" Wu lowered his head. His father left the room first and Wu slowly rose. He broke into a run as soon as he went outside where his father couldn't see or hear. He ran all the way down the stairs that wrapped around the mountain and eventually down the road to his brother's home.

* * *

><p>Misako looked through the peep hole and smiled, unlocking the door. "WU!" she opened it with a cheery smile.<p>

"Is Garmadon home?!" Wu let out a puff of air, his lungs were burning.

The woman with the glasses blinked, confused, "You're sweating and you looked like you just ran a marathon… did you run all the way here?"

Wu nodded, trying to swallow but his throat was dry as the adrenaline still coursed through his body. "I need to talk to you! It's important!"

Misako quickly helped him inside and got him a glass of water. After downing the whole glass in under a minute, the blonde was ready to talk. "Dad started teaching me to use the spirit smoke today…" he started.

"That's great!" she smiled. "It must be interesting right?"

He quickly shook his head, "No… no not great! He said I wouldn't see much since it was my first time… but Misako…" he grabbed her hand, "Oh gods Misako…" he shook his head again. She was almost scared at his alarmed tone. "I saw it all…"

She leaned back, a little surprised by his strange behavior. "Saw all of what!? Wu, what are you talking about?"

"The future…" he ran his hands through his hair, drenched with sweat. "I was always worried for my brother… I care… I really care but… I don't know how far in the future it was… but… he was gonna kill me Misako… he was gonna kill you and that little boy…"

"Little boy?" Misako tilted her head. "What little boy?"

Wu panted. He hadn't thought about that one. He tried to remember the child's face and then he saw it, emerald eyes and a face that matched his brother's. "Your son… Misako he must have been your son! It may not be so far in the future after all… you still looked rather young…"

"Wu just stop! Garmadon isn't going to kill anyone!" she shouted at him. "You might have just day dreamed it!" she rolled her emerald colored eyes.

"It's real Misako… I know it's real… and it will happen… please listen… leave him…" he pleaded for her to understand, "I just have this gut feeling!"

She blinked. "You… wait; what!?" she almost looked insulted now. "Why would I leave him? He's never done anything to hurt me… he wants nothing but for me to love him…" she jerked her hand out of Wu's grasp angrily, "And I do… I love him…" Wu's blue eyes pleaded and she frowned. "I see…" she folded her arms. "You want me to leave him for _you_".

"Misako-"

She held up a hand, "Just stop…" she wiped her eyes. "Wu… I know you love me… I… _sort of_ had feelings for you as well for a short while but I chose him… he wanted nothing to do but protect me and he stood by me whenever I shoved him away… you always backed off…"

"Believe me this has nothing to do with things like that…" Wu stood up as well trying to convince her. "I am only looking out for you and your future baby…"

"There is no baby!" she snapped at him. "I'm done… there is no way that I will try and have another child… Garmadon and I agreed… we're done with trying…"

"You will not stop destiny's hands Misako-"

She ran her fingers through her hair, looking more and more upset, "I am so sick of hearing about so called destiny Wu… was it destiny that my parents had to die? Was it destiny that I had a miscarriage? Or that Sigan would murder my daughter?"

"Misako stop that is not what this is about! We all are tied and bound to certain events that will happen! Garmadon is evil… it may not show right now… but I swear to you I am not lying about what I saw! You can believe or ignore… I am only looking out for you!"

He started out of the door, "And where are you going!" she shouted after him.

"To get away from this cursed house…" he threw his arms in the air angrily. He paused and looked back, "And your son's name is Lloyd by the way!"

"Get out!" Misako snapped and pointed to the door he was walking out of.

"I am!"

"Fine!"

"FINE!"

The door slammed shut and she started shaking. The back door opened and she jumped when she saw Garmadon walking in. Her face was red and eyes bloodshot, leaking tears. "Misako?"

She broke out crying and ran to him, squeezing him tightly. "Misako!? What's wrong? What happened?! I heard shouting!"

"NOTHING!" she hiccupped.

Wu peeked through the window at the two and shook his head. "I warned her…" he whispered to himself. What hurt the most was that the woman he loved still clung to the man he knew would try and kill them all. He sighed; he didn't know what was real or fake anymore.

He walked down the sidewalk, shoving his hands in his pockets hoping that everything would just turn out okay.

**Tensioooon... well that was bit of serious chapter... don't worry this is no where near close to the end lol. I still got some stuff going on... **

**Thank you for reading :D **

**~Mar**


	40. Tearing

"Hey uh… so, how about… visiting the monastery later?" Garmadon clicked his teeth together as his wife remained silent. "Ya know… visit my brother maybe?" She continued to keep her eyes shut as she leaned against his side on the couch, unresponsive. "You always like to see Wu-"

"Why do you suddenly care about seeing your brother?" she abruptly interrupted his sentance. He looked taken aback but her sudden outburst. She coughed and wiped her eye, "Uh… no… no I don't want to go and visit…" sh tried to recover. They were silent for a few moments.

"What's wrong?" he finally asked. "Because ever since you broke down that day you have had a strange disdain for Wu… you two are great friends so you might as well tell me what he said to you before I came in that was enough to make you cry like that…" he bluntly put it. "Because if you hurt you in any way I will end that little punk ass-"

"Silly spirit smoke… messing with his head…" she tried to wave it off. "Your father must be teaching him wrong or something… he said something stupid… something about you trying to kill us all," she tried laughing but it felt and even sounded forced.

"Yea…" he quietly mumbled. "How silly…" he looked down at her beside him and gently rubbed her shoulder.

Wu painstakingly looked at the pictures on his wall as he had been doing more and more. All of him and the friends he grew up with. The one he found himself staring at the most was the one with Garmadon in between, an arm wrapped around him and Misako. They were all smiling, like nothing was wrong.

He realized the photo was taken in late November, before Misako turned nineteen and the death of her parents the death of her unborn baby. He chewed the inside of his lip and tore it from the wall, throwing it in a drawer on his desk.

The blonde let out a loud sigh and walked out into the living room which hurt to be in as well. Everywhere reminded him of life before all the suffering. When the six were happy as could be.

Wu continued to see moments of the future which haunted his dreams. He kept lying to his father though. "Why can I see these things and father can't…" he groaned and scratched his short hair. He kicked the doorframe that led outside and plopped down on the stairs. "Why me? Why would it be revealed to only me?"

A pang of anxiety hit him, "Or maybe father won't be around when it comes to pass… could that be why he can't see this stuff?" he started talking to himself more.

_"__I don't know about that one Wu… At this rate… I don't know how much longer I have… And no father should have to bury their child… your brother can understand that much…"_

"Why do I even care?!" he growled to himself. Why should he? Whatever he saw would fall on their deaf ears. She yelled at him and their friendship was ruined now. He wasn't just friend-zoned, he was now shunned because she didn't want to accept what he was saying could be true.

He didn't ask to see the future or to become a ninja or being the son of the god of Spinjitsu. _"Huh…" _he looked down, _"Guess I sort of understand how Garmadon feels a little…" _It started getting him worked up the more he thought about it.

The phone rang and he decided he would answer it. "Hello?" he aggressively answered.

"Hey…" a tired and monotone voice answered.

Wu's heart lifted a little and his tone softened, "Misako? What… what is it?" Why the hell would she call? Would she yell at him more? Would she sic her husband on him?

"I still don't want to believe you… but I'm sorry I yelled at you…" she quietly apologized. "I was… wrong to assume your intentions…"

He breathed with relief, starting to smile. "It's okay… I wouldn't have believed me either… guess I'm nothing but a loon…" he tried to laugh.

Misako readjusted her hold on the phone. "I really am sorry though… I was pretty hurtful…"

"You're forgiven Mimi…" he smiled. "You're always forgiven… Are we still meeting going to meet up with Kasai and Namiko?" he hopefully asked. Every since everyone started moving out, they made it a point to constantly meet just to try and keep things as normal as they could ever get again.

She waited a few moments before answering, "Yea… yea, I think we all should…" she nodded. "Besides, another friend was throwing a baby shower later for Nami… so it'll be nice to see everyone before we go…"

* * *

><p>"So, it's a boy," Namiko happily patted her round belly. "Don't tell Kasai… but I'm naming him after him," she laughed. "It'll be Kai though but… ya know; close enough!" she giggled.<p>

"How cute," Misako picked at her own nails. She seemed to be a little on edge, Rose had a little year and half old son, Edna just had a little boy and the rest were talking about having kids themselves. She figured she'd be very out of place.

"Oh I always wanted a little girl myself! Maybe I should just get things moving and just propose to my boyfriend since he's dragging things out!" the others laughed with her. "Who do you think he'll look like?" Sonia leaned forward, giggling.

Namiko laughed, "I'm hoping he'll look like Kasai…" she leaned back in her seat. "Hey; Misako, something wrong?" she finally noticed. The other young women turned to look at the only one on edge. Of course they all knew Misako had plenty of trouble in the past with her babies.

The woman with the glasses looked up and shook her head, "Nah, I'm fine…" she wiped her eye. "Uh, tired is all…" In reality, she felt guilty about the whole family situation. When she thought about it, she never realized the way Garmadon's red eyes lit up when they talked about their coming babies or when he held their newborn before she was taken away.

She denied him something that would probably help keep whatever venom that made him supposedly 'cursed' go away. Then she remembered what Wu told her about the visions. The decision on what to do was tearing her apart as she prolonged it more and more.

All she could do now was just enjoy the fact her friend was happy and maybe just move on with her life.

**Ah short chapter... but the next one's hella long... sort of... I had fun writing the little book thing that they find... hehehe but what book? You'll have to wait and see kiddos...**

**Thank you for reading :3**

**~Mar**


	41. Delilah's Book

Misako had a few hours to kill after she was let off early from work, so like any other normal day, she went to the library. She had some research to do for the new exhibits anyways.

The woman with the glasses stopped to stare at a book on the shelf that wasn't there before, and she had been by the shelf a million times, "Well… now what's this? "Cults and Magic Creature Mythology?"" she raised an eyebrow and pulled it out, and placed the small stack of books down, sitting at table and opening the leather bound book up. Misako flipped through the pages quickly but stumbled upon something written in the back pages.

_Of course you know that there is no such thing as myths here in Ninjago. If you hear a legend, then it probably is very much true. Most ordinary people do not believe in wizards, Dream Gargoyles, the ice wars, or the cults of the Black Angel… Skeletons are some of the only generally believed 'myth'. _

_This book looks like it is written to disregard the myths and creatures, but if you picked it up, you know better. I am happy you picked this book up because I have covered everything there is to know from my time studying the ancient fights and everything in between. Knowledge is the ultimate power. Sadly, far too many people in Ninjago push aside the past and forget about the things of old._

_I know only one of very few would pick this book up, so; Misako, I know you are clever and smart if this really is you reading… or it could be Tanaka... maybe even Wu. You could always learn to love the past so teach the others well! You most likely encountered many of the villains and creatures recorded in this book, so you will have experience young ninja._

_Now who am I that I know all of your names or would possibly know you? I had the gift of foresight as well. Right now, I am Delilah Marret, but I am engaged to the Master of Spinjitsu, Masuta. I foresee my sons and their friends, and I wonder if I shall meet ever get the chance to meet you all. I will probably not, so read my book, uncover the secrets of Ninjago and the prophecies. _

_Do not tell Masuta you found this for he will be mad I wrote it even if I am long gone by the time you find my notes if you really are a ninja and is or were his student. _

Misako sat up straight, surprised at what she read. "Okay then…" she opened to the first page, "I guess I should show the others this…" she frowned and looked at her watch. She grabbed the books and quickly checked them out because the place would be closing soon anyways.

She ran down the block and found her husband waiting there, "Where have you been!?" he walked over. He looked at the stack of books and sighed, "Library _again_?"

"I found something even more important!" she grinned and held the top book up with excitement in her eyes. "Call the others and tell them to meet us at the bar tomorrow morning…"

"But it's closed tomorrow! Nami never opens it in the mornings! Only on Saturdays!"

"Exactly!" she got into the car with her stack of books. Garmadon sighed and got in as well, sometimes she could be too high maintenance.

* * *

><p>Namiko locked the door behind her, "What's so important?" she yawned. Here and Kasai took seats around the big table in the middle.<p>

Misako pulled the book out with an excited grin, "I found this in the library last night but I have no intention of returning it…" she opened it.

"Ooooh, Good good Mimi's going bad!" Kasai chuckled, "You naughty book thief!"

She rolled her emerald eyes and shook her head. In fact, the library didn't even recognize it when she tried to check it out. Misako placed the book down and leaned forward, "It was written by Delilah before she even married Masuta!"

Wu and Garmadon quickly grabbed at the book together to find it to be true. Her name printed neatly at the bottom of the first page. "No way… she had the foresight ability too". Wu grinned, secretly laughing that he had a tie to his mother after all.

The light brunette nodded and pulled it back, "She said she pretty much wrote this for us…" she pointed to their names. "I've always been troubled about… stuff Wu sees…" she looked at the blonde who avoided her eyes. "But… I think if we read this… we can have a better chance at protecting Ninjago… if this has every villain we have and could face; I think we could become the heroes we always wanted to be…"

"I'd even go as far to say we'd be unstoppable…" Tanaka frowned as the book was passed to him. "Wow… it has everyone in here…" he flipped through a couple of pages, studying the detailed inked illustrations. "Gee…" he looked at Garmadon, "You're mom was one talented lady…"

Garmadon sighed, "Yea… tell me about it…"

"What should we look up first?!" Kasai excited pulled the book his way.

Wu leaned on the heel of his hand, looking at the table of entries. "What's that one?" he pointed to one almost at the end titled "The Great Demon Serpents".

Their six sets of eyes widened and they flipped to the page. There were several. The first few were listed as fire, water, and ice. The last one though Wu stopped them. "The Great Devourer…" he cleared his throat before reading, giving a quick glance at his older brother.

_The mightiest of demon serpents was none other than The Great Devourer. It was worshipped like a god amongst the ancient snake race the Serpentine. Many people died by this atrocious beast and it grew to an amazing size, nearly consuming the world as a whole. Before it was destroyed though by Masuta, it had laid an egg, an egg that hatched a new one that my future husband would not know about until it was far too late. _

_The venom of a Devourer is deadly, killing anyone it bites. However, I foresee one getting bit… that; would be my own son. Which one I do not know because I apparently have two. Whichever one, he would be very strong in will. Like me I guess one could say. After this, the only way to stop this new monster from growing to big will be to seal it away in the Lost City Ouroboris._

Wu's blue eyes flicked up at everyone. This really was getting interested. "Keep reading," Garmadon nudged Wu's shoulder. He knew this would be very important to his brother since he was older and therefore knew their mother better. It may have been his last connection to her. The blonde nodded and continued.

_If one was so lucky to survive the bite, he would not simply be fine, no; he would fulfill one half of an ancient prophecy set up by my Masuta when he divided Ninjago in two. There was to be a new battle to end all, a new so called Dark Lord and a new Master of Spinjitsu. _

_The venom would no doubt slowly cause his heart to turn black, suppressing any feelings of happiness, loyalty, and love to a lover or comrades._

Misako squeezed his hand and closed her eyes, as Wu's calm voice turned to worry. Kasai and Namiko kept sneaking glimpses of their friend to see his reactions to the text.

_It is unsure whether it would be a very fast process, or a slow one. My theory is that as long as the victim has someone to be close to, to form a bond stronger than all the universe; it would further slow the effects by how much I will never know, it could be long enough to live a happy life and then die, but I couldn't possibly know because I do not have my sons yet. _

_This is all I know about the Devourer on its own, more information is under Serpentine or the Green Ninja Prophecy on the final written pages of this book. By all means, if you discover even more, you should add to this book, for this is why I left blank pages. _

Wu hurried to the end of the book where the prophecy was and took in breath, trying to keep his voice steady and not rush or mumble so the others could understand.

_The prophecy is of four young heroes with a power each of Masuta in them; fire, ice, earth, and lighting, and would be the guardians of the Golden Weapons in which they receive their elemental powers. However, there will be one who will stand above them; the ninja of green, with power of all four inside that will be like the reincarnation of Masuta. _

_It is unknown the time or place, but the Devourer's venom is more than likely linked, because there must be a dark lord in which to conquer for all of this to be true. From all that I gathered; it will be one of my sons. Who the child of green is, I could not possibly know. I cannot see any further than one being bit._

_The Final Battle shall shake the whole land. It will be a terrible time for all on both sides of the scale. I pray it is not you, my oldest son because what I have seen of you, you are sweet and kind. I pray you find happiness and live out your years with her and know nothing but love and joy. Do not let the darkness take your heart from those who love you._

Wu trailed off. "That's all there is…" the blonde looked at the pages again, then back up. All eyes were on Garmadon who was even paler than normal.

"Garmadon?" Misako whispered, feeling his hands shake.

He pushed himself away from the table and ran out. As expected, Misako was the first to run after him but he stopped halfway down the block, partially hidden in an alley. She crouched down in front of him. "Hey…" he kept looking away from her. "HEY!" she snapped.

"My father was right…" he swallowed, "Stay away from me… all of you…"

"We love you… all of us… we all grew up together did you really think that we would just sit around and let you waste away hoping it's not you in the end of all things?" she angrily said, snapping her fingers to get his attention.

He grabbed her shoulders, "My father was right, we rushed everything… our relationship…" he swallowed. "You never would have married me if I never got you pregnant and if we lost the baby…" he shook his head. "It was all some stupid fairytale I made up in my head…"

She finally smacked him across the face, leaving a read mark against his pale skin. "If you don't stop acting like this I'll do more than give you a little red welt!"

His red eyes widened and she looked down. "She said that if you had someone by your side… it could slow the effects…" she looked back up. "And you have five people… you understand? Five people who refuse to give up on you… me especially…" Misako's face turned red, "I was wrong for telling you to forget about having a baby… the way you smiled when you held her… it was like nothing bit you… no venom no _evil_… just… the man I could spend the rest of my life with…"

"What if dad was right? What if I end up hurting you too?"

"Risk I'll have to take…" she shook her head and held his hands in hers. "I want to go home… I want you to move on from this… no one decides your fate but you". He squeezed her tightly and she patted him on the back. "It's okay…"

**I swear I should just finish writing every passage of headcannon and theory of villains and creatures and make it a fan fic on here because I wrote several passages so that I can use for the plot purposes... like a lot... especially about Serpentine and some odds and ends stuff. **

**This is gonna be a plot device for later on because I needed a third party they could get information from about the stuff they face. They're all young so I wanted them to go on and strive for glory as any young person would...**

**So if I wrote the entire journal, would you guys like to read it? Because I need to write more anyways for other stuff...**

**Thanks for reading though! **

**~Mar**


	42. Words that went Unsaid

Kai Blackman was his name; soft brown hair like Namiko but the darker, umber brown eyes like his father Kasai. Everyone was visiting in their small home in the next village over the week after the new parents came home with their bundle of joy.

"Yea I don't think he likes me…" Garmadon looked away when Misako was holding the baby boy. The tiny bundle of red blankets fussed and whined every time the young man tried to get near the cranky baby.

Namiko laughed, "I don't know… why wouldn't he like you?" Misako gave the baby back to Namiko who start gently bouncing him, "Why do you whine around uncle Garmadon, huh? It's very rude…" she bopped his nose, Kai making a shrill laugh.

"Apple don't fall far from the tree then," he smirked at Kasai. "You were pretty much a little brat too when I met you, kidnapping my brother and all".

Kasai started arguing back and Namiko pulled the other woman aside, "Hey is he going to be okay?" she glanced back at Garmadon and her own husband arguing like they were still kids.

Misako bit her lip, "I don't know… he's trying and I can't ask for anything more…" she smiled a little.

"So… did you make a decision exactly? I know you've been struggling with the whole 'baby' thing with him…" she looked down at Kai who was calming down more.

Misako nodded, "Yea, I plan on telling him tonight…" she scratched behind her ear, "Might as well make him happy for his birthday tomorrow, right?" She pressed her lips together in a smile, "But yea I'm totally at peace with it…" she folded her arms, letting out a sigh. "And…I've been doing more reading from Delilah's book… more or less the same… ancient wars and her visions…"

"Wu has visions…" Namiko stroked Kai's soft brown hair. "It's pretty cool I think that he has that gift like his parents".

Misako swallowed and nodded, "He told me about one… but… you can't honestly believe in everything right? Some of them could have just been nightmares…" The other slowly nodded, knowing that maybe… she was just in denial of the visions of doom and darkness.

They got home late so they headed straight for bed. Misako bit her lip into a smile as she pulled out her short nightie she wore on their wedding night. She looked back and slipped it on quickly and hugged him from behind so he couldn't see her yet, "Mind if I give one of your birthday gifts early?"

"And what would that possibly be?" he tried to look behind at her but she wouldn't let him. She laughed and let go, hands folded behind her back when he turned around. She looked down, crossing her legs. "Are you serious?"

"More than I've been lately… but I'm at peace with what my mind decided," he wrapped his arms around her lifted her up. "You should leave your shirt off…" she blushed, fingers tracing the lotus tattoo on his left shoulder.

Their noses touched, "And why the sudden… interest in such activities?" he slipped his hand a little higher.

She kissed him quickly, "I'm sorry…" she trailed off and looked away, "it was selfish of me…" she rested her head on his shoulder as he carried over to the bed. "I want you to be happy…"

"You already make me happy…" he kissed her cheek. "And your feelings matter too you know…" he plopped her on the bed.

"And my feelings just decided they want to have a baby…" she laid back. "If you don't want it then I can always change into my regular flannel pajamas-"

"No this one's fine…" he quickly said and lay down next to her.

Wu groaned as the back of his head pounded. He woke up yet again in a cold sweat. "Stupid visions…" he grumpily got up and stretched, running his hands through his hair. "Stupid everything…" he brought his fist down on his desk. His bag falling off and he winced, hoping his father was not up still.

He frowned at the floor and picked the dark should bag up; pulling something square and thick out of it. "Oh no… Misako gave this to me to look at and I must have taken it home…" he closed his eyes and sighed at his mother's book, mumbling to himself.

"Wu? Are you up?"

"And now I gotta hide it…" Wu looked around and started stowing it back in his bag. Masuta came in and looked at his younger son out of bed.

"Is there something wrong?" he frowned at the book. "What's that? I don't remember that being in my library…" he walked in.

Wu backed up a little, "it's nothing father… uh… Misako let me borrow a book she rented…"

Masuta raised an eyebrow, "Then it must be interesting if she picked it out," he held his hand out. He knew. Wu was beat and let the book be snatched from his hand.

His father looked through the first few pages and shut the book with a clap, "You should not have seen this…" he frowned, holding the book up.

"We read it all…" Wu looked away. "It was written for us, you have to give it back; please!" he tried to kindly say it.

Masuta shook his head, "Should have known… your mother wrote this…" he looked at it more. "I told her not to write so much important stuff down like this…" he looked down at the youngest son. "Some things are better left unread…"

"That prophecy is about Garmadon isn't it?" Wu whispered, realizing it. Masuta looked down and let out a breath. "It is and you never even said… you knew all along…" he covered his mouth. "Garmadon was right when he said you knew things but never said…" His father looked away still, silent. "Father… I respect you… but that is wrong…"

"I did say your brother was cursed did I not?"

"Yea but nothing this serious!" Wu rubbed his eyes. "Lord of darkness? Father… it can't be him…"

"Garmadon is floating dangerously close to darkness… that is why I tried to split him and Misako when they got to close… I was hoping they would never stray beyond friendship… why do you think I was angry with him when they told me they were having a child?"

Wu swallowed; heartbeat in his ears. "But… but mom said that she could help him…" he ran his hands through his hair, "Misako could help him… she always helped him…"

"I know you've been seeing far more than you've been telling my son… what do your eyes see than mine cannot?"

Wu started sweating, goose bumps on his skin, "No…" he looked away and rubbed his arms. "I- father there are some things you can't control… we may be your sons… but you can't force us to do your will all the time… you can't always say destiny must take its course…" he swallowed, now Misako's denial was rubbing up on him.

Masuta looked at Wu. He was always the more obedient of the two, so quiet and easy going. Had he really forgotten he was thirty years old now? The master swallowed, "Wu… I need to know… I am the protector of Ninjago-".

Wu looked up, "You told us… in front of Samukai, that we were the new protectors… father if you ever want to pass on without another worry… then you need start trusting us more than you do now…"

"Your brother-"

"Is doing okay now…" he swallowed. "Misako has a handle on him…" he felt his heart ache as he said it. "You said so yourself; Misako is a girl full of love…" he shrugged. "Now… we decided that would be her book…" he pointed to the leather bound journal. "We can protect Ninjago with it…"

"I suppose what more harm can you do being you read it all…" the much older man shook his head and dropped the book on the table. "Next time… tell me before you jump into something like this again…"

Then again, this was not the first time the obedient Wu went behind the master's back; and it probably would not be the last.

**Baby Kai :D Hehe... thanks for reading! **

**~Mar**


	43. General Arcturus

Kai sat on the stool across the room as he stared at his father working in the little shop with wide eyes. He was a little over a year old and since Namiko continued to work as well, Kasai was completely happy to watch over the little one.

He was so patient and quiet too which Kasai loved. He wouldn't try and touch the hot metal or go near the small fire. After a while though Kai lifted his arms and started whimpering. "Up…" Kasai looked up and smiled a little at his son, putting the tools away and letting the fire die out.

"Well now… want to do something else little one?" he lifted his son up and kissed the top of his head. "I think I did enough work today anyways". Kai clapped his hands.

"Did you see that!?" Two teenagers were walking along the path in front of the shop when they stopped and stared at the tall grass. Kasai looked back and frowned.

"I don't know Casey! I don't see anything!" a red head with a face full of freckles rolled her eyes.

The blonde backed away more, "I'm telling you there's something in the tall grass Holly!" grabbing at her friend's sleeve, pulling her away as well.

"Da?" Kai looked up, tilting his head.

His father licked his bottom lip and quickly put Kai down, "Now… stay here and do not come out unless I say!" he pointed and said it slowly so that Kai would hopefully understand. From one of the barrels in the back of the shop he pulled out a sword he finished before and came out to where the two girls were. "What did it look like?"

"It looked like a snake; only BIGGER!" the one named Holly squealed, exaggerating with her arms the size of what she saw. "It was purple I think…" she started chewing her nails nervously.

Kasai narrowed his dark brown eyes and held the sword at ready, "We know you're in there… so come on out and I will not harm you…"

"Such stupid promise for a human…" a voice hissed back at him.

A set of magenta eyes was seen through the tops of the grass and a head rose out until it sat a good foot over his head. "What the hell are you?" he whispered in awe and shock.

"General Arcturus of the tribe of Anacondrai…" he looked back at couple others of purple and varied colors. "Oh and we are the Serpentine…"

Kasai looked back at the girls, "Now… Casey and Holly… I want you to grab my son and start running towards the city, my wife runs the bar; I can handle this…" The two nodded fast and Casey picked up Kai and started down the road to warn the others. Kasai clicked his teeth together, _"Now I just need to call the others… hopefully I can manage to call one and they'll spread the word… either that or the two girls will get word to them"._

* * *

><p>Namiko busily filled up steins and slid them along the slick counter, happy that business was good. The front door slammed opened and everyone turned around. "Casey?" her eyes widened and saw that Kai was in her arms.<p>

"SERPENTINE!" the two girls screamed.

Namiko's brown eyes widened in shock and she nearly tripped over her sneaker laces, grabbing for the phone.

* * *

><p>Misako shut the copier off and put the stack of papers on the desk and pulled out a set of binders. "Sonia, get these papers to Mr. Wilson…" she pointed to the stack when the phone rang. "Hello? Ninjago Natural History Museum office?"<p>

"Serpentine are in Ignacia! Like ones in the books we read!" Namiko shouted.

"Serpentine!? They were sealed away ages ago!" the brunette tried to convince Namiko it must have been some child's practical joke.

"They are real! Two girls from my village ran into the bar with Kai and told me Kasai is fighting a hoard on his own! Get Wu and Garmadon! Tanaka is already here with me!"

Misako nodded, "Will do, we'll come straight away…" She hung it up, "DANIEL!" she shouted. The blonde man ran in, "Tell Mr. Wilson I had to leave because of urgent business and call my husband saying to meet me in Ignacia in the West Valley…" she closed up her books, snapping off the orders. "I have Serpentine to hunt…"

* * *

><p>Kasai was knocked flat on his back by the one named Arcturus. He flipped over and tried to push himself up, "My you are a rather weak ninja…" the purple snake tilted his head. "Why… my own son could take you down… isn't that right Pythor?" he looked behind. A smaller version of him slithered up and nodded his head, whipping out a dagger with a smirk.<p>

Something flew through the air and knocked the small weapon from the child Serpentine's claws, "Back away from my husband you slimy snakes!" Namiko growled; three more kunai between her narrow fingers.

"There must be at least thirty…" Wu chewed his bottom lip, thinking of an estimated amount. The odds were not exactly in their favor it seemed.

"Masuta locked you all away! How can you be here?" Tanaka demanded an explanation.

"That is because we are survivors!" Arcturus laughed in his deep voice. "We escaped on our own and we decided that our army will take the land from you surface dwellers!" he looked away, "And this is not my whole army…"

Garmadon looked at the others and smirked, "Guys… be prepared to have an awful lot of Serpentine skins to hang on our walls…"

"What an arrogant young man you are…" Arcturus tutted; tail swishing back and forth as he was excited to take down six ninja. "Today we have war on you who defend the surface dwellers…"

"Wouldn't have it any other way…" Misako tightened her grip on her scythe and narrowed her green eyes. "We are the defenders of Ninjago, to surrender to you… well, that would not be doing our job…" Luckily for the six, they had read the Serpentine page already from Delilah's journal. There were five different tribes, all with their own unique set of powers and abilities;

Anacondrai with the power to unhinge their jaws and swallow their victims whole and to turn invisible, Hypnobrai with the power hypnotize and control others, Fangpyre whose venom can turn anything or anyone into a snake, Constrictai, who could immobilize someone and have incredible strength and were expert burrowers, and Venomari; whose venom caused wild hallucinations.

And they would have to take on all five types at once. "Now dear ones… I must leave for my other… plans," Arcturus chuckled, "I leave you with my small attack force…"

Kasai growled and lunged forward, "Ninja-GO!" his orange Spinjitsu went after the invisible creature but gasped for air when he hit the ground.

"We have more important matters…" Misako shook her head.

"Leave now and we won't have to harm you all," Tanaka loudly said.

They started laughing at him and the other ninja. Garmadon was the first to get in a ready stance, because he knew what they'd do next.

In a gold smoke cloud something appeared between the two parties. "Tut tut… you naughty Serpentine… I locked you away and yet you still come out and try and take over the land…"

Garmadon half groaned. "Sure… now you show up just when I was ready to be the hero…" his hissed to himself.

"Quiet son," Masuta's hand glowed gold, "Now… tell me this Arcturus seems to be missing… I take it he is away, trying to stir more mischief than what is needed… If you leave now… I will consider not wiping you from existence".

"That's the Spinjitsu Master…" they all murmured. "I heard he wiped out an entire Serpentine army with one move of his hand…"

"But Arcturus won't like it if we go back without causing a little bit of trouble!"

"Too bad! We have other plans in motion anyways!" a Venomari started backing away. "RETREAT!"

**Woo, Serpentine! AND BABY PYTHOR... I thought it'd be awesome if Arcturus was his dad, because why else name the rocket Arcturus other than the reason he was famous Serpentine general?! **

**And look, the mood of the story changes again... army time! :D Thanks for reading the update I planned on updating like... two days ago...**

**~Mar**


	44. A War Brewing

"Serpentine here… a Skulkin there… what could possibly be going on…" Tanaka looked out the window of the bar. It was almost time to close it down for Namiko's break before happy hour began. So far, nobody in the city or in the more outskirt parts liked the constant Serpentine bandits that pestered them.

He looked down at Kai who was listening with a bewildered look on his face.

The brunette shrugged, "I don't know…" she sighed, wiping down the tables covered in sticky liquid. "But it's something big no doubt… it's been three months since Arcturus showed up… we should be more on our game…"

"Up… up… Ma-ma!" Kai held his arms out to his mother, trying to wiggle out of Tanaka's stronger arms.

She washed her hands off and grabbed him, kissing the top of his head. "I just hope that we can handle it…" she looked at her son. "I just want my baby safe…" she swallowed and looked down. "Guess I know how Misako and Garmadon felt about Hope…"

"Speaking of them… I wonder if those two and Wu found anything yet… they were supposed to report back an hour ago…" Tanaka frowned.

"Come on Wu! They're catching up!" Garmadon looked back at his wife and brother angrily. Misako was doing okay, quickly moving along, but the blonde was even farther behind than woman with the scythe in green.

The blue eyed ninja dared to look back, a long necked Anacondrai had his face right behind the one in pale gray and gold, snapping his jaws as he slithered. "EEEEEE!" the younger brother's legs pumped even faster than he was already moving them.

"Don't let them get away!" A skulkin shouted in the small group that chased the young ninja.

Wu looked back and looked even more alarmed when the two he was with were no longer in front of him, "Guys!?" He could hear the enemies drawing nearer.

Suddenly a pair of hands grabbed him by the collar and yanked him up. "You little shit! I told ya to go faster!" Garmadon quietly cursed at him. Misako was on a higher limb, body limp on her perch as she wiped her sweaty face.

"Sorry…" Wu wheezed. "I'm sorry… you should have left me behind…" he nodded, not bothering to argue because all three were exhausted. White hot pains were shooting through his chest and around his ribs; heart pumping so hard he swore it would burst.

"We leave for the city in ten minutes…" Misako puffed, throat dry from the run. "We have to report back on what we saw…" She took out a canteen from her belt.

"Skulkin and Serpentine working together?" Kasai's jaw dropped. "How can that be? They hate each other…"

Namiko nodded in agreement with her husband, a fidgety Kai in her arms, "Yea, Delilah's journal even said it would take a miracle for them to ever join forces…"

Tanaka was the most silent one of them all, teeth set on edge. Unlike the other five arguing about what they saw or what was going on, he was thinking. "Maybe they didn't join entirely on their own… there could be a third party or more in the mix that is creating some kind of alliance…"

"Yea… but what?" Garmadon rolled his crimson eyes, irritated by the blanket statement. "What army or group could be helping exactly?"

Wu was reading through the journal, eyes looking down the long table of contents. "What about this army?" he put the book down. "Kirchon and the Six Armed Army…" he read the page header out loud.

Everyone exchanged glances, "Possible…" Misako sighed. "But how come we have never seen or heard of those things?" she frowned at the hideous humanoid like men. "Six arms… how ridiculous… I thought Samukai was silly with four… this really takes the cake…"

"Says they were banished to the Lonely Isles of the North… that's like… a frozen tundra though!" Namiko pointed to the second paragraph and started reading;

_Kirchon was an old foe of mine and Masuta's. With his army of tough warriors, he invaded the north region of Ninjago where many villages were destroyed and even more killed. A force not to be reckoned with, we used our magic and banished them to the isle far off the north coast to freeze to death. Though they are rather primitive, they are very adaptable so it is possible they could survive. _

"Has to be it then," Kasai shrugged. "Only other army here anyways… so what are we going to do about this? Masuta's been on a hunt for Arcturus and we're all Ninjago has left…"

"Well we have a war that's obviously going to start… we don't know when… but it will… and soon if you ask me…" the woman with the glasses shut the book and put it back in her bag. "We know there's already a lot of activity and people have gotten hurt as it is…" she trailed off.

"So? What? What do you think we should do?" Wu asked, seeing she was hesitant of saying something that was obviously on her mind.

Misako looked back, "Well… I think we should call the mayor of the city… and we'll have to start creating an army of our own…"

"You can't be serious!" Garmadon shouted. "We have three total badass armies of supernatural creatures with pretty much an unlimited set of skills and what do we have!? A bunch of us stupid humans are gonna go and fight them? Only us six can use Spinjitsu Mim!"

Misako started looking irritated and glared at the others who started to side with her husband, "So what? The six of us take on an entire army? We can't do it by ourselves! If it was one army alone it might be different but this is thousands… tens of thousands maybe of mythical creatures? Masuta had trouble with one stone army back in his day! And he's the creator of Ninjago for gods' sake!"

Her hands slammed down on the table, irritated more so now, "The element of earth chose me… and the element of earth is destined to be the leader of the other elements, so for once in you stupid lives can you trust and do as I say without debating like this?"

The other five went silent.

Each one glances at the others and sat down silently. "Sorry…" Garmadon quietly mumbled. "You're right…" That and he hated when she yelled like that.

"You have our trust and always have…" Tanaka nodded in agreement. "We were wrong to question your decision Misako…"

The green eyed woman stood up straight and slowly started to nod along, "Good…" she swallowed. "Thank you for listening…" She pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose and cleared her throat. "First things first we must get a hold of Masuta… and then… three should investigate the north while three stay here and keep the Skulkin and Serpentine in check…"

"Kasai and I will stay here and hopefully the master will return soon," Namiko volunteered the two. "We shouldn't leave Kai behind anyways… his second birthday is coming up…"

Misako nodded, "Yes, don't miss that… I'll go North… which two will join me?" she barely got the words out before Garmadon stood up before she could finish the sentence. She chuckled and nodded, "Okay then…" she looked at Wu," No offense Wu… but Tanaka did survive weeks in the freezing cold… and he is the ice ninja…"

Wu held his hands up, "No problem, I hated the cold last time we went to Yosho anyways," he sat back in his chair.

"Pack some supplies and we'll leave early tomorrow morning… we should be gone for a couple of weeks at the most so don't hold your breath," the older woman ran her fingers through her wavy hair that fell from its braid in her rant. "I can take as long as I can off from work… not like the fossils will be gone by the time I get back right?"

The six broke to do the tasks at hand.

**Boss lady Misako getting shit done. I always imagined she'd be the leader... earth is so befitting for her, don't you think? She always seemed like the more stable one out of the trio on the show... even in Rebooted, Garmadon still would be fire... (then I think back to Avatar about controlling fire and not wanting to hurt people like Aang?)**

**Kirchon was an interesting character in Stone Cold. I was saving him for much later in this story because hey; he has a kick ass army that could do a lot of devastation. I like a nice climax as villains get harder and harder, ya know?**

**Who knows, maybe the Overlord will show up hahaha... jk no way will I do that... he needs to stay on the Dark Island where he belongs because that's the first time Garmadon ever sees him, or... even heard of him really... judging also by what Wu and Misako were saying. **

**Long a/n sorry XD Thanks for reading and I promise a new Halloween fic update soon! Plus this weekend, my bestie Robyn is staying with me (she's coming in like... 2 hours!) so prepare for some more update gaps in all stories. **

**~Mar**


	45. I Spy

"Almost to the top!" Tanaka looked down at the couple who was taking a bit longer to catch up to him. Sometimes he forgot that he grew up climbing in the cold with his family. "Take your time!" he sat with his legs dangling off the ledge, keeping an eye on them to make sure they wouldn't need help.

Misako felt her fingers getting stiff as she clung to the footholds Tanaka made for them so it'd be easier. "Almost there…" she kept telling herself. Her frosted breath kept blurry the lens of her glasses. Garmadon made it up first being she was tied to his waist.

Tanaka and Garmadon grabbed one arm each and pulled her up on more solid ground. The small overhang they would sleep under for the night blocked the wind so they would freeze to death. "Damn it's still freezing…" Garmadon sparked a fire with his fingertips and lowered the mouth mask.

Misako stiffly leaned against his side, to numb to even shiver with him. "Well we've been climbing for two days… the next village over from my home town, Iccerius, is on the other side… it's surrounded by lots of trees so it'll be less windy than out in the open like this…"

"Good…" Misako coughed and tried to sit up.

"Here let me help…" Garmadon slipped his and her gloves off. Warmth spread throughout her small body and she felt at normal body temperature again. He was lucky to have fire be his element. It came in handy for the freezing cold weather.

"Good to have a fire ninja like you I guess," she laughed and kissed his cheek before he started slipping the gloves back on.

Tanaka busied himself with the thermal sleeping bags so they can get their rest. "Just be careful in the dark… don't want to uh… roll over the side… or if you try and get the fire going again…" the black haired man looked down at the long climb it was up to where they were now. "Happened to my other uncle when I was a kid…"

"Ouch…" Garmadon looked over the side with him. He didn't want to think about stepping wrong in the dark.

"Yea… I always get nervous on edges like this ever since…" Tanaka scratched the back of his head. "Well come on, We start out at five tomorrow…"

The couple half groaned and slipped into their own bags right next to each other, falling asleep as soon as their heads hit the hard ground.

* * *

><p>"Skulkin at three o'clock…" Kasai looked through the binoculars he pulled out.<p>

"How many?" Wu ran the stone along his katana, sharpening it and looked up at his friend in the tree limbs above his head.

The black haired ninja in brown and orange tilted his head from side to side, "I'd estimate about… uh… say twenty? Give or take?" he tried to count. "I can't tell! They keep moving!"

"Quiet will you!?" Wu hissed and climbed up to sit with him, sheathing the sword in his back holder. "Okay how about we estimate twenty five since I know you suck at counting this stuff?"

"Bet I can cut more heads off than you can!" Kasai jumped to the next tree and Wu started after him, squabbling along the way about who was the better ninja like Wu and his brother use to do. For a pair of thirty year olds, they were still quite childish.

"Sh!" Wu stopped. Kasai almost fell face first off, but Wu pulled him back by his brown collar. "Two scouts right below us… don't move…" They both slowly looked down.

"You hear something?" a gruff voice asked.

"Up there but it might be a squirrel… or one of those stupid snakes playing a mean old trick on us!" The other started walking again, shoving the other one to the side.

The two men silently counted to three and dropped down on top of the two scouts, causing them to break apart into dismembered pieces. "HEY!" the first one angrily shouted. Wu clapped his hand over skeleton's mouth, prompting Kasai to do the same with the other.

"HEEELP!" the screamed, muffled against the hands of the young men who were frantically trying to get them to shut up.

"For a ninja raised by the master ninja and the creator of this world; you suck!" Kasai hissed, fed up with having mission turn out like this.

Wu glared back, "Maybe if it wasn't being tailed by a street brat-OUCH!" Wu hissed seeing the skull had bitten his hand. He dropped it abruptly.

"Ow!" the skull shouted next.

"I heard screaming over here!" more Skulkin voices came along with footsteps.

"Shit…" Kasai rolled his head back and tossed the skull over his shoulder as if it wasn't even alive and started to climb the trees again. "Come on Wu! I heard the last time you and Garmadon went on a spy mission you almost died!"

Wu frowned, "Yea… no need to remind me…" he grumbled, having to remember his brother and Misako having to save his behind over and over again over the years. "So… what do we have to actually report back on?"

Kasai frowned as well at the question, "Uh… that the skeletons are camping closer and closer to inhabitant towns and the city?" The blue eyed ninja blinked, eyebrow twitching up a little and Kasai growled, "How the hell should I know?! You let the thing bite you and gave us away!"

"I wouldn't have gotten bitten if you didn't want to stay instead of hiding like what I wanted to do!" Wu rolled his eyes. "Come on… we can't lead them back to the monastery… so let's just keep quiet-"

Something black that blended with the dark foliage grabbed Wu and then Kasai, tearing through the trees and plants. "Nice to see you Wu…" a voice mewed tauntingly. "Where's that hot older brother of yours blondie?" she giggled.

Both men groaned loudly. "You kidding me? Are you frikkin kidding me?!" Kasai's voice escalated with irritation. "You were locked up _again _years ago with Sigan!"

"Deadly Four was sprung out by Samukai and his allies to aid in the plans… for starters… hunting you ninja down so you interfere…" Hatsu took the Mask of Malice off. There were taught lines around her eyes but she still managed to keep herself looking basically the same.

"When you cut us down, we come right back up," the mask laughed. And he seemed to be the same in everyway.

Hatsu's wings folded up behind her, "Now… I reckon that Sigan is taking care of the three who went north, right Malice?" she stood up and uncoiled her strange looking whip, talking to her artifact.

"Yes, Kappa is looking for the last remaining girl… so far she had no luck".

Kasai grinned, "Good old Nami…" Hatsu looked down with a sneer and put the Mask of Malice back on. "Alright, let's get you back to the Skulkin camp," she snapped her whip. "One hit from my whip and you won't be able to move for hours…" she kicked them, "Now since I don't want to have to drag your carcasses all the way there; move it scum".

The two glanced at one another, "Ninja-GO!" Hatsu's wings spread and she threw her whip around, uncoiling it.

* * *

><p>Tanaka caught Misako when she slipped down the rest of the way. "Gotcha…" he smiled, fingers clamped around her wrist.<p>

"Thanks…" Misako dusted the white powder off her snow suit, planting her feet on the ground and looked back. "Ya coming?" she blinked, eyes skirting the snowy landscape for any sign of her husband. "Garmadon?!"

"Gang way!" The two ninja at the bottom threw themselves aside in time so Garmadon wouldn't run them over when he slid down the slope.

"What the hell was that?!" the female of the trio growled. "You could have ran us over!"

He laughed, "But I didn't…" he ran over and pulled them up. "You two have good reflexes so lucky me". He kissed her lips quickly.

Misako rolled her green eyes and yanked her arm back, "Yea… lucky for you, you didn't kill your wife and best friend…" She started laughing though at the goofy face he made. She lifted her hand and kissed his cheek before he threw her down and shoved her in the snow, she tried to fight back.

Tanaka shook his head, knowing that if he went ahead, they would have to follow him to they'd get lost, so he started ahead again, "Come! Almost there you two! Then maybe we can some real food!"

The couple looked in his direction, feeling hungry all of a sudden and started after him through the pine trees as fast as they could. "Wait up!"

**I had to cut this one down a little... it went way too long... I mean really long... So I split a couple of scenes to the next chapter... So they'll be split up for a while... **

**Thanks a bunch for reading ^-^ **

**~Mar**


	46. Tailed

Namiko looked out of the window with her sleepy son on her lap. "Something the matter?" Masuta quietly asked.

She slowly nodded, "Don't know what but… we have an unwanted guest I believe…"

The Spinjitsu Master nodded and rose from his seat. Namiko rested Kai down on the couch cushions and pulled out her fans, looked around; standing behind Masuta who gripped the sword of fire tightly. A trail of slime was on the cobbled stone pavement, Namiko of course recognized it.

"You can fight her with me or go to your son…" Masuta offered her the choice. She whipped open the fans he gifted her with many years ago with a smile and they stepped out together. "Kappa the siren…"

"Right… should have figured the Spinjitsu Master would be protecting the runt of the litter…" she hissed through her fangs.

* * *

><p>Misako, Garmadon, and Tanaka all sat around the fire in the inn they were staying at. Once they said they were ninja; they were happily welcomed if it meant preventing a massive war. The one clothed in lavender opened a map that was stashed in his bag.<p>

"Anything behind the town, I don't know by heart, so I'll need this…" he unfurled it. "Now… a couple of miles further north is the coast, the ice is broken around this time of year so we can use a boat naturally…" Misako and Garmadon looked over his shoulder, paying close attention. "So these islands are really dangerous by what my grandfather was saying… he's been there before on a fishing trip years ago…"

"So he never saw one of Kirchon's men?" Garmadon asked.

Tanaka shook his head. "No… so we could be wrong in thinking there could be a third party… or at least the third party is not them anyways… but we shall leave in the morning after we've rested…" he rolled the map back up and stowed it away again.

Misako took off her jacket, feeling warmer again. "Well… okay, but we need to make sure no one follows us… there could be all kinds of spies around here…" her emerald eyes looked around the partially crowded inn. No one seemed to be suspicious or wanting to kidnap them. Still, the three stood up and walked up the stairs to the rooms they were staying in.

Though the place was heated, they might as well been frozen down to their bones. Misako continued to shiver under the blankets, still wearing her turtleneck and thermals. "Honey, can you warm me up please?" she yawned, turning her head back to look at her husband.

Garmadon sighed and wrapped his arms around her, using his element to raise his body temperature and transfer it to her. "I should start charging you for this…" he chuckled and kissed her cheek.

"Mmm…" she snuggled closer to him under the thick comforter. "I love that you're the fire ninja…" she laughed too. "I'll pay you back for sure when we get back home…" she winked.

"If we even have time with your whole… "Raise up an army" thing," he muttered, burying his face in her unraveled hair.

Loud footsteps came from the hall outside their room and but they didn't think much of it until the room next door emitted a huge crash, that no doubt woke plenty of others up. The couple sat up and looked at one another, getting o their feet and running into Tanaka's room.

The gray eyed ninja was pinned to the ground, someone else's hand at his throat. He had pale, off white skin and long, shaggy black hair that swept down his forehead to cover his glowing cerulean eyes. "Si…" Tanaka choked out. "It's…" he gasped.

The attacker's blue eyes glowed brighter and of course further revealed who it was. "You bastard…" Misako suddenly felt a wave of rage that she hadn't felt in several years. "You murdering…" she clenched her teeth. "How the hell did you find us?"

She went to step closer but Sigan started squeezing Tanaka's throat tighter. He held up a finger, "No no… not one more step…" Tanaka tried to wriggle but the time ninja was far too limber. "Arcturus freed my comrades and I to be his assassins… Hatsu should have the blonde and his friend by now… but I followed you here because you know too much".

"The years haven't done you well…" Garmadon and Misako slowly stepped, circling the rogue ninja. Gray was laced through the older one's once pure raven black hair. "So… have you given up murdering innocent babies?" red eyes pulsating brighter than Sigan's blue ones.

Sigan scoffed, "Well now I'm no murder…" he chuckled and glared down at Tanaka, "Just a psychopath". His pale lips stretched in a twisted grin they all knew. "Unless you pathetic ninja have another child I could take from you…"

Tanaka's hands were trying to wrench the others from his throat. His gray eyes connected with the other two's which prompted a smirk from Garmadon as he pounced, throwing the time ninja off the ice one. They were both strong, fighting for the upper hand as they wrestled on the floor. "Better watch it; I can age you till you're skin and bone you fool". Sigan tried to slip his gloves off.

Misako marched forward with her scythe, past Tanaka, still trying to catch his breath. She took the sickle part of her scythe and smacked Sigan across the floor. "Do I have to break your jaw again!?" she threw back at him. This further angered him and his launched himself at her next. "Don't you dare hit my husband!" she shouted as his hand gripped the rod of her scythe, pushing it more against her throat so she couldn't move again.

"Wanna go _again_ bitch? I caught you last time; remember?" he laughed. "I'm all ready for you now… You are rather pretty for scumbag ninja… maybe after I kill your husband I should have some fun before I kill you!" he chuckled.

"GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF MY WIFE!" Garmadon yelled furiously and went after him again with his bare hands.

Finally Tanaka also got up, helping Garmadon drag the assailant around the room and throwing him into the wall; head first. "We need to leave now!" Tanaka started grabbing his bag and other warmer clothes.

The married couple followed suit and grabbed their things, running out and into the cold, hastily trying to put their snow gear back on.

* * *

><p>"I think I can finally move my left hand…" Wu whispered to Kasai.<p>

The young men were now tied back to back. Hatsu was busy, leaving the Mask of Malice to watch over them. Wu had managed to get the mask talking about something with the occult or whatever while the two were trying to escape. Currently, the mask was looking away from them because Hatsu, though evil, was not all that bright and left him facing the other way. She most likely thought that her stun serum was still paralyzing them.

"But Wu… you're right handed…" Kasai sighed. Another thing; these two were not the best option for Ninjago's heroes at this very moment.

Wu looked back at his brown eyed best friend. "Oh…" he sighed. "Well… can _you_ get your right hand out?" he quietly asked, catching glimpses of the one who was meant to be watching them. "I have a secret knife stashed away in my-"

"Do I wanna know Wu?" Kasai cut him off abruptly.

"I was gonna say between my belt there's a secret sheath I added for a case like this but… hey man, whatever you wanna-"

"Wu!" Kasai cut him off again. "Okay I get it…" he wriggled his hand. "I think I got it loose…" he set his teeth together, trying to contort his arm in a bit of an unnatural way. "I think I got it…" he whispered. Slowly but surely, the blacksmith and ninja started cutting away at the ropes while feeling was being restored after getting hit with Hatsu's whip.

* * *

><p>Wind whipped around the three as the struggled to run against it. Finally they stood on the edge of the half frozen ocean. Staring off at the faint outline of where they wanted to be. "And of course all the ships will be docked because of this storm…" Tanaka sighed.<p>

Garmadon tapped his foot, trying to think of something. "Wait a minute…" he took another step ahead.

His wife gave him a quizzical look. "What? What is it? Do you have an idea?"

"Sort of?" Garmadon sheepishly grinned. He always seemed to devise half plans to the other's constant annoyance. "Well… I uh… sort of stole these from the library back at the monastery because I thought they would come in handy… I've been practicing them for a couple of weeks…" He pulled something out to show his wife and friend.

"Teleportation magic?" she took her snow goggles off to try and read them. "You sure about this? It takes forever to master…"

"Let's give it try?" Garmadon asked.

"We could end up in the heart of a volcano! This is dangerous!" Tanaka chimed in, agreeing with Misako.

Garmadon pointed at the other male, "No one asked for your two cents Fugiyoka…" he looked back at his wife, "It's the only thing we have…"

She looked up at his red eyes, the ones that made all know he was cursed. She chewed the inside of her lip, thinking about it. All he wanted was for her to trust him. She did… just not with this… did that still count? Probably not because this could be a life or death situation where it really counts… still…

"Okay screw it… let's do it…" she tossed him the scroll back and he smiled gratefully at her.

Tanaka's eyes darted back and forth between the two, "I'm sorry what?" he didn't know why Misako would risk something so dumb.

"Come on!" Misako grabbed her friend's hand and then her husband's. "Whenever you're ready…"

He looked gratefully at her. "Well…" he coughed. "Here goes nothing…"

* * *

><p>Namiko ducked and jumped. It was like Kappa didn't have a backbone; that was how limber she was. Namiko blocked with her fans. The siren had poison spikes in her scaly patches, all the more dangerous.<p>

Masuta blocked her way and Kappa hissed in anger at him. "We need all six…" her tail appendage swished back and forth. Though she could not beat the powerful back; he left an opening. She sprayed a poison, hitting Masuta, and the slimy creature slinked away, knowing she was beaten.

Namiko raised her hands that started glowing gold. "You know… I can't stay alive forever Nami…" the sensei watched her work her magic. "I have to leave sometime…"

"Oh don't say that…" the young woman smiled. "It's our job to take care of you… you're like a father to me…" she smiled softly.

"Mama!" Kai waddled out, landing in her lap. "Mama k?" he blinked.

"Mama's just fine…" she ticked him a little and kissed his face several times. "Now come on master…" she helped the much older man up and they walked back inside. Suddenly, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. "Wait a minute… Kasai and Wu should have been back…" she plopped Kai down and turned, running out of the gates without letting Masuta get a word in.

He looked down at the toddler and chuckled, picking him up. "You're mother's a stubborn one young Kai…" he saw the gates slam shut. "She's a tough one…"

* * *

><p>The black and blonde haired men sat back to back, still unable to do a thing because they forgot, their legs were still asleep, though most feeling returned to their other limbs. That's when Kappa came slinking back to the small base camp Hatsu was watching over. They craned their necks over to try and see from their current position what was going on.<p>

"What is it now?" Hatsu turned around with an unhappy look on her pale face. She folded her arms, popping a hip to the side.

The scaly one shook her head, gills on her neck opening and closing fast as she breathed. "The stupid master was at the monastery! I thought you said he was away! He was with the last one and the kid…" she looked exhausted.

"You dare blame me?"

Wu looked back at Kasai with a bit of smile. His best friend looked entirely relieved his wife and son were safe after all. "Now we just gotta get back…" Wu whispered. "And I don't have any ideas still…"

**Oh look I made a reference to Destiny of Doom! It's revealed Garmadon can teleport in that so I thought "hey let's show some of that!" **

**I'm really happy I ended up writing in more than just our three main trio... looking at this whole story... I've found I love writing Wu and Kasai stuff... they're just both dorks XD **

**Thanks for reading! Believe it or not we still have a ways to go XD Hope to see you in the next update ;)**

**~Mar**


	47. Always Running

"Oh gods I can't believe that really worked…" Garmadon fell back on his bottom in relief. Tanaka and Misako started moving ahead when he waved his arms. "No! Time out! I call time out!" he sat back. "Oh man that took a lot out of me…"

Misako groaned and grabbed her husband's arm, "But Sigan will catch up eventually! He always does!" she tried dragging him. Even with the strength her element gave her, he still was six foot three and was most likely more than double her own weight; that; and he was being stubborn. Her hands slipped though and she fell back on a pile of snow.

Garmadon started laughing just to annoy her even more. Tanaka shook his head and sighed, sometimes he regretted tagging along when the two were together, though he had to admit, they could be quite amusing with their spats. "Misako is right; we must hurry if we are to find out if the army is still alive! Up up! Both of you!"

"Fine…" they sighed together and forced themselves to get up.

It was a long a trek, but at least the climbing was behind them. They could hike up the sheer mountains that were on the island, but it wasn't necessary. The only problem was, the landscape was so white, that it was hard to make out what things where since it was more like a flat tundra, you could bump into a mountain and not realize it.

"I'm tired… can we take a breather?" Garmadon shouted over the wind.

Tanaka sighed to himself and nodded, "Okay, I think there's a cave or something around here…" they walked closer to the base of the mountains.

They finally found what they were looking for and slipped inside. Unfortunately; they were not alone.

A small group of men, taller than even Garmadon who all had six arms, stared down at the three ninja who swallowed. "Uh… Hi?" Garmadon nervously smiled.

* * *

><p>Namiko listened to the two women argue back and forth on whose fault it was for her not being captured. She peered one eye around the tree she was behind and then saw her boys; Wu and Kasai still partially limp and dosing off while the Mask of Malice seemed to keep on talking.<p>

Her padded feet made little to no noise as she sneaked around. She was surprised that the two's ropes were almost cut all the way through. She shook her head and pulled out her shikoro; cutting it the rest of the way. This motion woke them both up. "Nami?" Kasai yawned.

"Hiya," she pecked his lips quickly and looked at both of them. "So what's the deal? Can you not move?"

"Hatsu's poison whip has some long lasting affects…" Wu stretched his shoulders a little. "My right hand and feet are still limp…"

Namiko puffed out a breath and took her gloves off, healing them of the poison. "Come on…" she passed them some temporary weapons until they could snatch their own back. One thing no one could ever deny about Namiko; she was the most versatile in concealment weapons out of the six.

Silently the trio rose to their feet and started to move in to take down the other two. Kappa's fish like eyes glanced behind Hatsu and she gasped, "WATCH IT!" she shoved the other out of the way.

Gripped between her fingers, Namiko started swiping with her kobutan. "Don't ever try and take me from my son again!" she growled, puncturing the soft scaly part of Kappa's abdomen, making her hiss in pain and start to bleed. "We need to get out of here!"

"Yea! Sigan is going after Misako, Tanaka, and Garmadon!" Wu panted as they started running again. "Oh gosh why must our jobs require so much running!?"

"You sound like an old man!" Kasai laughed at the blonde ninja.

Hatsu was now occupied with a wounded Kappa. "Okay… so now we all know there are a bunch of assassins after us… what now? Do you really think that Kirchon's Army is still alive?" Namiko looked behind her at the two.

* * *

><p>"Six… freaking… arms…" Garmadon clicked his tongue. "Six… mother… hugging… arms…" He shook his head. "How the hell is it… that I always end up in these positions? Hmm?" He looked back at the other two that were tied up with him. They were actively trying to ignore his rantings for the past twenty minutes. "Wu; he's the one that gets caught! Me? I am the hot one who always saves everyone else's ass!"<p>

"Oh shut up…" his wife rolled her eyes, sick of hearing him talking. "I've saved you ass plenty of times when you failed to think things through!" She looked at the small group of warriors, going back to whatever they were doing before the three ran into them.

Tanaka was the only one actually working to get out, lucky for them; he was wearing a kakute under his gloves. He pulled the left one off and started slicing through the twine they were tied with. "So… just to make sure… what are we going to do when I cut out of these?" he kept his voice low.

Misako sat back against the wall, "Ask the master of show offness…" she nodded to her husband beside her.

He frowned and looked back at the warriors, "Hey dumbasses!" that got their attention. "Yea you with the gross faces!"

"Oh joy… make them mad why don't you?" Misako wished she could bring her hands to her face.

He ignored her and kept going, "You got a general yea?" They just looked at him, blinking. "Then why don't we get a chance to meet him?" He looked at the other two, "Right?" He bumped against his wife hard. They then understood it would just buy them some time to think of some other plan.

"Uh… yea!" Misako shouted, nodding her head a little bit.

The three turned towards each other again, garbling some other language not even Misako knew of. They then walked out threw another tunnel. The three ninja looked at one another, not sure what was going to happen now that they were gone.

Tanaka had cut his twine and proceeded to do Misako next, snapping the rope with his sharp ring weapon. They heard footsteps coming back and Misako and Tanaka pretended the twine was still around them. The general didn't look all the different from the others, but he did look like the warrior in Delilah's book.

"Why are you here?!" he gruffly asked. It appeared he was the only one who could speak English.

Tanaka and Garmadon both looked at Misako who cursed under her breath of how much she hated both of them. "Well…" she cleared her throat, "I shall get right to the point! You are the third army who is aiding the Serpentine and Skulkin yes? You are the ones that are the common ally? General Kirchon the Ravenous?"

"Who are you three?" he growled. Misako knew that she was right now. "Who dares to come here, searching for us?"

"I'm Misako Alexander; that's Tanaka Fugiyoka and Garmadon…" she smirked. "And we are the next masters of Spinjitsu".

Kirchon looked the three over, not sold on that statement. "Masuta the great god of Spinjitsu? Teach a bunch of mere children? Do not lie to me!"

"No seriously, he's my dad," Garmadon plainly stated. "You remember? Him and my mom banished you guys here? Delilah? Ring a bell?"

Kirchon scratched his black beard; looking down at the young brunette man tied up, "Ah so… they did have a child… You are the spitting image of that pathetic enchantress". Then he saw the red eyes and chuckled, "So you are the foretold curse one?"

Garmadon could practically feel his blood boil as he listened to Kirchon insult him and his mother. "Well yea? At least I don't look like a fool with six arms you bastard!" he snapped. Misako was personally hoping for this because he could sear through the ropes if he got angry enough.

"Better not make my husband mad…" Misako scooted a little away, "When you say things like that he gets really pissed…" she glanced down at the twine that started singing away. "In fact his element is fire…" she smirked again. Tanaka nodded, signaling he was ready. "Now!"

The trio broke into three Spinjitsu tornadoes and started running out of the cave, "Garmadon can you do that teleport thing again?" Tanaka looked back at their assailants and swallowed.

The red eyed ninja looked back as well and clenched his teeth, "I can try but don't get mad if we end up in the middle of the ocean!" he reached back and grabbed the other two's hands.

"Anywhere is better than here!" Misako panted. "Let's move it!"

"Quick; get them before they try anything!" Kirchon roared behind them. They would run faster if it were not for the thick snow they treaded through.

* * *

><p>In a gold flash they disappeared as what happened the first time. It was a bumpy ride for them nonetheless, but when they reappeared, it was on top of three squirming figures in the middle of the forest. "What the-?" Tanaka rubbed his eyes.<p>

"HEY!" they looked down and quickly got off of Kasai, Namiko, and Wu. "What the hell? How did you guys get here? You're still dressed for the arctic!" Namiko gestured to them.

Garmadon finally collapsed, falling asleep. Misako groaned and looked back, "Someone help us?" she and Tanaka had one arm around each of their shoulders. "We kind of have a lot to tell you guys…"

**Always running always saving... and so Kichon makes his debut! Shikoro, kobutan, and kakute are actual weapons btw, you can look them up :) They were some of the very many weapons that were easy for a ninja to conceal along with the kusari fundo/nun chucks and shurikans. **

**I've been doing some homework... hopefully I got it right to a degree... I have a historical AU and I was doing research on clothing and culture for mainly Japan, but China too... but that won't be for some time. **

**So... things get more interesting hmm? Thank you for reading :D And BTW, the story ain't over yet! XD**

**~Mar**


	48. Ninja Assemble

The other five spent a good hour trying to drag Garmadon back home to the monastery because he wouldn't wake up, well, thirty minutes away he was awake, he was just lazy and faked it. Finally at the gate, they dropped him; "OW!" he groaned and looked up at them. "What?"

"You are such a lazy smart ass… that's all," Misako smiled and opened the gates. "We're back!" She announced.

Namiko and Kasai were greeted by their little toddler first and was soon followed by their old master. "Good… let's swap everything then," he led them inside. "And nice trick stealing that scroll from me son, I am happy it was of use to you in the end".

Garmadon frowned; slouching his head forward; he should have known his father would know he took it at some point. Once they were all seated, Tanaka was the first to report of their findings up north. "So… Kirchon is very much alive… he is the one we were suspecting all along…"

Masuta nodded slowly at all of the information, "Well…" he coughed, "things have just gotten a lot harder for all of us… Kirchon now knows we know about him and that means the three armies will be attack us very soon…"

"Oh hey, did you ever find Arcturus?" Wu asked, remembering the mysterious Anacondrai general and his incredibly rude son.

His father shook his head this time, "I'm sorry to say it is quite hard to catch a snake like him so no… I did not find anything on him…" the old man folded his arms on the table. "It looks like you all will be very busy over this week… pouring over this new information and… deciding if Misako's idea of an army of your own would be the best course of action…"

"We trust her completely so there is no doubt that we will not trust her decision on this one," Kasai grinned, looking at his older friend. "We'll send those cowards running for their holes before they even get here!"

Namiko smiled a little as Kai sat on her lap. She was silent this whole time so finally they looked to the younger girl of the team. "I'll of course help you guys… but I have to take care of Kai too and… I don't think I can do much of the fighting but I'll be the healer…"

"Nami…" Kasai raised an eyebrow, "What are you talking about? Why can't you do any of the fighting?"

The brown eyed girl stared at the table, "Well… I found the other day… that…" she blushed and looked away. Her husband's mouth dropped open a little and she nodded. "The only reason I swooped in and helped you and Wu earlier was because I was so mad at Kappa and she said Hatsu was gonna take care of you guys…"

"In honesty I knew… I tried to stop her but I figured she would have the nerve to tell you on her own," Masuta smiled. "Congratulations you two".

Garmadon was happy for his friends, he tried to be at least, but he was also jealous. They were well known ninja now, same as him and Misako; Kai was probably in danger once or twice when Arcturus just had shown up. How could they have two children alive and his two were dead as infants? The first wasn't even born! Misako gave him a look and he realized his face read what he thinking. He tried to calm himself down.

"You all must be tired now, so I recommend you sleep here tonight, you will have a busy week coming". Masuta told them. No one disagreed, though Garmadon wanted to deep down just go back home and sleep forever.

Sure enough there he was lying in his old room with Misako next to him, starting her game of twenty questions with him that he knew would come based on his reaction earlier. "Come on… I know what you were thinking…" she sighed, lying on her back.

"I'm not talking about this…" he grumbled into his pillow. "Just drop it; I wasn't thinking anything bad about them…"

She sat up and patted his shoulder, "I know it's hard to watch them be happy and have kids who are alive and well when we had misfortune…" she smiled a little, "I don't blame you for being jealous… they try to be careful around us as it about the whole matter and I don't think they deserve to tiptoe around this".

* * *

><p>"Kas…" Namiko frowned, "Do you ever think that we talk too much about Kai and now the new baby?" she looked down at their son between them. "Because I don't want to make them upset… they've had a horrible two experiences when their babies… do you think they're hurt about it?"<p>

Kasai yawned and opened one eye, trying to sleep, "Nami… I feel bad about what they went through… I really do… I think Misako knows that it's not anything that we did or that they did… it just happened… I would be jealous too if I was in Garmadon's position… so yea I don't blame them if they are… can we go back to sleep?"

* * *

><p>"I just… sometimes I feel angry at them…" Garmadon finally started talking. "It's not their fault with Hope… Namiko worked to make sure you and her were okay when those bombs went off… she wished she could fix everything and… I just hate my stupid life… maybe that's why I always go with plans I never thought through…"<p>

"You're telling me you're subconsciously trying to get caught or get killed or whatever?" she raised an eyebrow. He tilted his head back and forth a little and she sighed, "Well… I know you think the world would be better off… but not me… I would be really upset…" she held his hand tightly. He still didn't really respond so she leaned against him, snuggling closer, "You know… I did say I owed you one back at the inn didn't I?"

His head perked up a little when she mentioned that. "Suddenly I don't want to sleep…" he pulled her closer and took a breath before they kissed.

* * *

><p>"So… any ideas of how many people would actually be willing to fight a bunch of monsters?" Tanaka shook his head as Wu put up a sign.<p>

The blue eyed one grinned and looked over, "Oh come on, try being a little more optimistic! I'm sure someone would want to join…" they started walking down the block to meeting up with the others. "You forget once we get the mayor to back us and say it's a good idea, people can be drafted without a choice. You know my brother and Misako can be… uh… persuasive…"

"Listen man, it's either this or even more people are die and the first to go might be you," Garmadon folded his arms.

* * *

><p>Misako pressed a hand for him to step back and she cracked her fingers. "Let me handle this honey," she sweetly said to him. He mumbled something and sat down. "Thanks…" she looked back at the mayor sitting behind his desk, "I'm one of the head historians at the museum and I have studied these creatures… Skulkin, Serpentine, and Six-Armed monsters… now… you saw what Skulkin did to this city by themselves… because of it myself and my friends nearly died to defend it… we lost a lot ourselves I almost died along with my daughter…" she started. "So unless you want that to happen on a much more massive scale… I suggest you start helping your fair city before everyone <em>dies<em>." She paused, waiting to see what he would say.

It was almost like a stare off, if Misako learned anything from her husband it was that men would never back down from a challenge of authority or dominance, especially from a woman. "Gah I must be stupid…" he growled and looked away from her eyes.

"That is all, thank you for your support of Ninjago's heroes," she smiled and turned around, "Come on love; our work here is done".

"Oh… I was hoping we'd have to do plan b where I get to punch him in the face!"

The mayor sat upright when he heard that, just before the doors to his office were shut. "Oh my what have I gotten myself into with those pesky ninja?" he held his hands to his face.

"I only said you could do that to get you to come!" she laughed and walked out of the revolving glass door. "Now come on… let's get a drink…" they started down the sidewalk. "I'll buy…"

"Then yes," he hugged her to his side. "I will take you up on that".

* * *

><p>Masuta blew out all of the candles, quietly rising and pacing his room. No longer could he see the future; why was that? Wu had been swiping the incense for the Spirit Smoke whenever he thought he was not watching. His sons seemed to be keeping more and more from him every day; with a war brewing between the two sides, he worried he would soon die, leaving them with no one. Never before did he not want to die.<p>

He however remained ignorant to the fact this was how Garmadon and even Wu felt sometimes with all the secrets he had kept from them. He did not want to believe that fact of himself.

He had over five thousand years to watch the world change and change again right before his eyes. Yet only in the past fifty years did he experience love and what it was to be a father. Now his time was also running up. "How long must I have left? Five years? Two? Maybe mere months…" he thought to himself.

"I could even die tomorrow… I can't even see my own end…" he closed the blinds again. "I wonder what it is like to be them… young and making mistakes of their own…"

* * *

><p>The glasses clinked between the couple, "We'll probably die in a couple months you know that right?" Wu was the only one not with a smile on his face. "And you two are doing what? Just drinking… honestly those are like… you're third…"<p>

"Pretty much little brother," Garmadon ruffled the blonde's hair. "I'll make sure to pull you over as shield if a Skulkin tries to kill me, okay?"

"Relax… we don't have to worry about recruiting… the government drafts people because there's a need, so plenty of people will be on our side… the only downside is we have to train them but that's our job as Ninjago's protectors… I'm fine with it…" Misako set her glass down. "Come on Wu, you shouldn't focus on possible death… it might not happen to us…"

The younger brother shook his head, "I told you Misako… I think the smoke vision thing is completely passed to me… dad can't use it like he use to…" his fingers nervously tapped the table. Of course they would disregard it because of the blow out he had with Misako a long while back.

"Doom doom destruction and doom," Garmadon grimaced, setting his glass gown hard on the wood table, "Is that all you are ever good for Wu? Because I don't need this right now…" Misako slightly nodded in agreement, she was trying to get him on a more positive note.

"Fine!" Wu raised his hands and slowly got up. "Sorry for worrying about our well being while you two get tipsy and bang or whatever you do every night…" He walked over to where Namiko was sitting. "I can't believe I'm the only one who actually cares about winning this thing… even Tanaka isn't as worried…"

The brunette patted his hand, "Wu there is such a thing as too much worrying…" she got back. "Like Misako said; just relax… it'll make things harder if you just focus on all the people that might die… okay?" she looked back. The blue eyed ninja smiled and nodded back at her. Leave it to Nami to be the one to reassure him.

Everything would be just fine.

**I get little silly in the next couple of chapters... I revisit some of Wu liking Misako to my terrible shame... you'll pry get a good laugh out of it though...I can't have this story be straight up serious because then it depresses me to write it... I want to be like... since the six are like life long best friends they joke and act stupid and squabble... and naturally I have to add Garmadon and Misako double teaming because it's fun... though shit gets real again soon... le sigh...  
><strong>

**So right no I'd say we're three fifths into the story if I look at things right... anyways I finally had time to revise this... thanks for reading!**

**~Mar**


	49. Dysfunctional Family

"So I guess we'll have to start with the general… why we are here thing…" Misako was talking while Garmadon and Wu were half listening, flipping through the pages of their mother's book listlessly. "And I guess move on with different divisions… I recommend a scouting team- you two are just ignoring me now aren't you?" she looked down at the two brothers, placing her hands on her hips.

"Hmm?" they both looked up.

The young woman rolled her head back, groaning while folding the map she was looking at up, "Take this seriously! Wu even you said we might die! So let's avoid this okay? We have one week to set up a base and that's when people were ordered to find their way there, so how about we talk about what weapons we plan on using? Because I think we're a little short on artillery…"

"Already got Tanaka handling that," Garmadon looked back down, gesturing to the window where one could see the lavender clothed ninja looking over weapons. He flipped back a few pages and paused. "Wow… did you know that Samukai was a mortal once?! He accidentally got struck by lightning and killed-!"

"Garmadon!" she snapped. He looked back up at her stressed out face and sat up straight, folding his arms as well.

Wu stood up, "She's right; we're wasting time by rereading that book… we already know what we're dealing with…" Garmadon wanted to scream the words "kiss up" to him so badly it hurt, but that was Wu for you, always going along with the leader of the team; he was a pure born kiss up.

The oldest one finally rolled his glowing eyes and shut the book instead of his rude comeback to his brother, "You know… I'm regretting being related to both of you… maybe I don't want be in charge of a hundred or so people who have no idea what they're doing and will probably just get in my way from saving the day again," he crossed his leg over his knee, leaning back against the couch.

"And sometimes I regret marrying you," Misako puffed in annoyance. "You don't have any regard for innocent lives most of the time…" she shook her head, folded her arms more tightly across her chest. He went to snap something back at her but she wouldn't let him, "I know it's the venom okay? I know it's hard for you to care but can you try and act like you need help every once in a while?" she softened up a little more.

"Fiiine," he sighed loudly like a child being reprimanded. "I get all the good weapons though and get to be in charge of the scouting team you just suggested," he pointed to her.

His wife dropped her arms, "But I was gonna be in charge of that! It requires stealth! You couldn't get out of bed and walk down the stairs without banging into something and waking me up!" Wu let out a snicker and one look from his older brother's glare of death shut that down quickly.

Wu's eyes flicked back and forth as his family went at it, arguing over the job both wanted. Not wanting to hear any more of them; he went to find Tanaka who was outside, looking over weapons. "Kas here yet?" the blonde picked up a bamboo staff, looking it over with curiosity.

"No…" the older plainly answered. "Weapons like these should be for the stealth team…" he looked over a ninjato and a pair of sais. "The city's providing some actually explosives and guns and stuff but I think the stealth parts should do things the old fashion way…" He sheathed the short blade, "I on the other hand have been working my effects… the Skulkin should remember the phantom that attacked them years back…" he chuckled to himself, a rare sight for anyone to see.

"I think you should be in charge of that more than Garmadon or Misako… they're arguing about that now…" the short one sat down on the ground with sigh. "I hate this whole war thing… why can't we just have peace? Ya'know? Maybe everyone would be way better off… how many people want to take over Ninjago? Is it like a trend?"

Tanaka kept quiet as he sorted through the various weapons. He wished Namiko was there, concealment was of her expertise but she'd be at work, taking things easy. When Wu asked his question, his gray eyes shifted back, "I wish this too Wu but sadly we are not so fortunate… where there is light there is always shadow as the old tale once said…" he placed down the sheathed ninjato he was examining and stood up. "You know that your brother is a volcano just waiting to erupt… some days he looks fine… and others he looks worse… the worse days may be right before of us… Wu, if something happens we must be ready to keep him from causing destruction".

"Tanaka I couldn't possibly hurt my brother!" he leaned back against a weapon rack. "I don't want to talk about this… if either of them heard us there would a whole thing about trust and how we're crazy-!"

The conversation was interrupted by a heavy bang on the door. Wu rushed to open it and smiled seeing Kasai was there with an arm full of sheathed swords. "Special delivery for the future saviors of Ninjago!" he laughed. Wu took a bunch and helped him inside. "How do they look? Warrior class weapons or what?" he, Wu, and Tanaka sat in a semi circle, showing off the katanas.

"You made all of them?" Tanaka looked at the mark on the blade, saying who its maker was. Kasai folded his arms and held his head up proudly. "Impressive for a week Kasai, I'm truly amazed!"

"Master Hiroshi actually is in Ignacia, seeing how I was doing and he dubbed me the greatest in the land!" he chuckled. "Well… after him I mean". He scratched behind his ear. "So… our lovers are having a spat I take it," he looked to the shoji doors that were shut, muffled voices from behind them. The others nodded. "Just like them… they fight because they must love each other so much". He took a sword and got to his feet, going inside. "I have something that'll make Garmadon shut up real fast".

Kasai knocked on the door and opened the doors, "Knock knock, special delivery for two of the greatest ninja in the land!" Misako and Garmadon looked over at the interrupting. The black haired blacksmith tossed a sheath to Garmadon. "Custom order from like… two years ago?"

The red eyed one raised an eyebrow and took it out, "That was just a joke but… Now you do dual blades?" he blinked, seeing it was two in one. "Nice…" he looked them over.

"Oh no, now he has a new toy to obsess over… as it is we have… what? Three swords on the wall in our house?" Misako forgot about arguing and laughed. "Have my order done yet?"

"Let's see… the chain sickle yea?" Misako nodded. "Yea I got it back at the shop along with that armor you wanted, almost done for all of us, I even did one for Namiko if she ever joins us… if this will really go on for that long". Kasai was hoping he was wrong. "All set otherwise? Got your scythe sharpened and all that?"

"Ready to go," she nodded. "We move out tomorrow morning to get everything ready… I wish Namiko could come… I'll miss having another girl to talk to," she smiled.

"Well yea… but she's four months and will start getting big soon… not to mention Kai'll miss her something terrible…" the brown eyed blacksmith smiled at the thought of them. "And uh, my old master, Hiroshi? He actually is staying over… said he wanted to make sure they'd be okay without me as long as Namiko's pregnant… nice man… I should be getting back though."

"Well; see you tomorrow then," Misako smiled and hugged him goodbye. "Remember… we're going up northeast a little into Birchwood…" She shouted after him. "I want that army of Kirchon's taken out first! According Tanaka's spy up north, they already started moving down!"

"I know!" He grinned and walked past Wu and Tanaka, out of the gates and back home.

* * *

><p>Young Kai was the first to greet him when he opened the door. He happily picked up his son and kissed him between the eyes, making the sixteen month old laugh. "Mama!" Kai shouted. "Da home!"<p>

"So; did Garmadon like the swords?" she pulled Kai into her arms when she came out.

"Naturally," Kasai laughed. "He loves all my swords…" he hugged her. "And how's the baby?" he asked, looking down the bump that was barely there on his wife.

She placed her free hand over it and smiled; nodding a little, "She's doing good… though I think she and Kai will miss you when you leave…" she kissed her husband. "I can't believe your old master came all the way down here just for this favor…" she set Kai down to go off and play on his own.

"I owe him a lot…" Kasai said, exhausted from the trek back.

* * *

><p>No one could sleep that night, knowing they would most likely not come home for a while; how long; no one could possibly know. Around daybreak the five ninja got up to head out like they had all planned. Kasai had the longer journey being he was more south of the monastery the others were staying over at.<p>

The black haired ninja yawned as he took his horse out of the stable he kept it at a little down the road from where he lived, wishing he could simply fly on the back of the dragon he befriended years back. Sadly, the seven disappeared, probably back where the ninja first met them. Imagine how much easier things could be with them?

He was about to saddle up; slipping supplies and several last minute weapons he had finished when he heard several footsteps and looked back. "Thought you could just ride off with everyone and not say goodbye to us?" Namiko was carrying their son who was half asleep. "Come on Kai, let's say bye to daddy… okay?"

"Hmm…" the tiny boy yawned and nodded, wiping his dark brown eyes. "Bye da da…" he reached a hand out. Kasai smiled and hugged him tightly. "I miss you…"

"And I'll miss both of you…" he ruffled his son's messy brown hair. "But Hiroshi is going to be looking after you guys for me, okay? You'll be my good little man?"

"Yessa…" the little tiredly said, leaning back on his mother's shoulder.

"See ya soon, I promise I'll be back before we have Nya," he smiled and got on the horse.

Namiko blinked though, "Wait… when did we ever discuss her name?" she followed as he trotted out of the stable. "Kas!" she shouted after him.

He flashed the devious smirk he use to give her as a child, "Well now my love, you got to name Kai without my knowledge, so I named our baby girl Nya last week!" he started off, "And there is no way I'm up for discussing it! See you soon!"

She smiled and shook her head, walking back home so Kai could go back to sleep. "Oh I hope they all get along…" she started talking quietly, "Sometimes daddy and his friends don't get along… we never really do to be honest…" The short woman stroked her son's messy hair. "But they're family… and right now we're all going to be in some deep trouble unless they can do something…"

**Chapter heading may change but I though it'd be funny because that's what they are... on my word doc, this story is like 70,000 words without any author's note... yikes right? I finished writing the Halloween fic so there are like... 3 chapters left which means I'll have enough time this coming week to post them, and the final shall be on Halloween ;) **

**Ugh so prepare for blood and violence to ensue... I'm sure all of you must be like "Where the hell is Lloyd!?" or at least some of you being all "I want my baby Lloyd!" well don't get your panties in a twist, it pry won't even have mention of having baby for like... ten chapters... you prepared for this story to go fullspeed into 2015? I am haha**

**Thanks for reading! :D**

**~Mar**


	50. That Look

"At least Winter's over…" Misako yawned, half asleep as she lightly bounced up and down on the back of her horse, "I couldn't take fighting in the snow…"

"Hmm…" Garmadon was leaning all the way forward on his, almost passed out. They had been riding for three hours almost nonstop. "I'm happy because everyone won't be asking me to use my fire power on them…" he tiredly lifted a finger to her, "You still owe me for all that work I did up north…"

"I'll make it up don't worry…" she stretched her back up, starting to feel sore herself. Tanaka and Wu were behind them, quiet because they were tired as well and didn't really have anything to talk about, especially since it was still so early. "But we can't be doing any of that while we're here… that can wait till we knock back the three armies and get home…"

Garmadon chuckled and she looked at him, "Pfft… you're no fun… sneaking into each other's tents will be fun, I know you don't want to because you'll be afraid everyone in the camp will hear you… you're so loud," he snickered.

Misako felt a blush spread across her face and looked straight ahead again, "I am not loud!" she hissed back, looking back to see if the other two boys were listening or paying attention to them. "You're the one who's always loud! Moaning my name and all that!" she slouched her head, now disgruntled.

Her husband gave a closed mouth laugh, "Okay I'm sorry…" he reached a hand out and brushed her face, "But you do laugh really loudly love". She smacked his hand away. "Fine then, you can prove just how quiet you are by seeing who can hear you in camp next week!"

The two in back decided to finally tune them out and keep to their own thoughts. Wu watched Misako's back as he rode on, wishing she would behave like that with him. He thought he was over what the others called the "puppy love" crush he had years back. He tried to respect that she simply just loved his brother more, it's not like they were friends anyways; then again; both brothers were just friends to her at one point. He just wished she would have waited longer to decide she loved the oldest, maybe he would have had a better chance as a seventeen year old rather a thirteen year old.

What was so different about him and his brother? Sure anyone would go for Garmadon being he seemed to inherit every gene from their mother and she was called the most beautiful in Ninjago. Was Misako that shallow just to love Garmadon on looks? He wished that'd be true because it was the opposite.

He would always listen to the bickering and joking, always pushing the boundary even when they were tweens. He looked to Tanaka beside him, he knew Namiko had a crush on him since they were little and he could have had her over Kasai, yet he made no moves towards her because either he simply did not wish to date her, or that he did like her but saw she would be better off with Kasai. Wu? Well he was single just because he was always too scared to show feelings before it was too late. Not only that, but half of him wanted to let it go and the other half wanted to possess her like Garmdon did.

The young ninja in the pale gold gi let out a low sigh, wanting to ignore the weird thoughts that seemed crossed his mind, but he did wonder what it was like for his brother to be so close and intimate with her…. What it was like to kiss her… what she looked like without any clothes on-

"Hey Wu…? WU!" the blonde shook his head, coming out of his pathetically inappropriate daydream. When his eyes refocused, it was Misako looking back at him. He nearly jumped out of his skin but tried to make it look like he wasn't thinking about her naked, but couldn't help the blush spreading across his face. "Are… you okay? You're staring at me… for the past… ten minutes from what Tanaka clocked…"

Wu's face was now completely red and he looked to the lavender clothed man riding next to him for answers as to what was crossing his mind, "I was just thinking about what's gonna happen is all… you just happened to be in front of me," he quickly said, looking away now even when he spoke to her.

Garmadon frowned though and Wu knew he was screwed, he knew what faces his brother made when he looked at his wife, and you could read just what he wanted to do with her all the time. _"Oh shit did I make the face he makes!? Did I make the "wanna have sex with her" face!?"_ Garmadon narrowed his crimson colored eyes, _"Oh shit I did!" _Once they'd get to the camp, he would have a beating waiting for him. He just kept his head down now and his older brother finally looked away.

Wu still remembered the last time a guy was looking at the bespectacled young woman inappropriately… well… he did dwell on such terrifying thoughts.

* * *

><p>Kasai was still not there by the time they planted a campsite, not until an hour later which gave Wu some relief so he could hang around him more. Wu made extra sure to stay a good twenty feet away from Misako, at least for a few hours or until tomorrow.<p>

"If you beat him up I will be very mad…" Misako tossed her bed roll in the tent that she claimed. They set a few extra for anybody that was coming out within the first week, though once again, the government was supplying also.

Garmadon was still grousing about earlier and put his hands on her shoulders, "He made the face I make when I want you… how am I suppose to feel about that!?" he looked at his brother peripherally. "Do not tell me I have no right to slap some sense into him…"

"Wow… you're really jealous…" her eyebrows went up. "I never realized that until now…" she patted his shoulder, "It's sweet you just want to uh… 'protect' me but honestly… do you really think Wu would try something like that? Let alone I would agree to it? He's… well… Wu…"

"Fine…" Garmadon dropped his arms giving a dark look. "He'll remain alive… for now…" There was a pause between the couple and then she lightly smacked his shoulder and they both laughed.

Wu let out a breath, overhearing what they were talking about and how it turned out. "Oh good I'm alive for now…"

Kasai shook his head, "Better watch yourself… Tanaka told me the looks you were subconsciously flashing her… heard you were also staring at her butt". He took a drink from his canteen, chuckling as quietly as he could.

Wu stomped one foot, blushing again, "Shut up!" he pushed him. "We're thirty-two not fifteen! I am a grown man and I would not stoop so low as to inappropriately look at a married woman!"

"Yet that's exactly what you were doing!" Kasai just continued to laugh as loudly as he could as his best friend pathetically attacked him in a sissy slap fashion before Kasai shoved him away. During their quarrel; Tanaka busied himself with organizing the gear and the other two were just sitting, saddle sore from the trek up to Birchwood.

* * *

><p>The sun was starting to go down though, so everyone thought it best to turn in early for the night. Garmadon shot his brother the stink eye before he got into the tent after his wife and all Wu did was give him a nervous smile and a little wave before Misako could pull the older brother in and zipping the tent front shut.<p>

"Come on, the three of us can share one…" Kasai shrugged and got into the one for the remaining trio. Wu just wanted to go to sleep but it seemed his friends had other plans for him. "So… we thought you let go of her? Why the sudden interest again; hmm?" Kasai wiggled an eyebrow, with a knowing smirk.

Wu wiped his face and shook his head, not wanting that to be brought up, "I'm done about this topic… I'm going to sleep!" even Tanaka now was bugging him with a silent stare. "Fine! I hear those two always joking and talking about…" he blushed again with a mad look. "Sometimes I just wonder what it would be like if she picked me… I'm never picked! People see me and my brother together, and they just end up seeing him because he's like… a fricken foot taller! And he's stronger, faster, and is the biggest idiot ever but he gets all the attention like he's the hero! What about me!? I'm one of the smart ones here!"

Tanaka and Kasai blinked, hearing Wu talk like that. "Girls really screw up friendships huh?" Kasai plainly asked.

"No you two are different because Nami didn't screw your friendship up… Kasai Tanaka did nothing to make you mad and he never flirted with her like Garmadon did with me," Wu waved a hand. "Doesn't count…"

Kasai then smirked, pinching the blonde's cheek, "Somebody's jealous, of his big, hot brother!" he snickered.

"Just stop…" Wu flopped over on his stomach, "You don't even have a brother so how do you know what it's like? Hmm?" he looked back angrily. "I wish I was like you… no brothers or even sisters… just me… Garmadon… he just… I always try to be there for him and it's like he doesn't want me around at all anymore…"

Tanaka laid back on his own bed roll, "I am sorry Wu but if I had a younger brother thinking about doing quite sensual things with my wife, I would be very angry and protective as well… I know it is hard to let go but it something you must do as a good brother, Garmadon cannot help being mean and you even said that yourself".

The blue eyed one looked back and sighed, lowering his head, "I hate it when you two are right…" he pulled a blanket they packed around him and tried to fall asleep.

* * *

><p>"Just let it go… okay? I don't love Wu in that way so what does it matter really?" Misako rested her head on the heel of her hand, pull the blanket more around her bare shoulders. "Wu cares about you, though maybe slightly jealous, and you don't have to be so coarse with everyone all the time… okay?" she shook her husband's shoulder. "Remember what we talked about yesterday? At least pretend to care?"<p>

"Yea yea… fine…" he turned his head to face her and kissed her. "Besides, he won't have time to look at you when he's stuck training all the ones who can't even swing a sword," he chuckled.

**Hehe I wrote this little thing when I was in a stupid mood and I needed to make myself laugh, then I though oh hey let's seriously add this as a chapter because I can totally make this work in here...**

**So... yea, there it is... Wu finally showing he's jealous big time... Kas and Tana... what good friend you two are (not), so sweet and caring for your little buddy (hahaha yea no) **

**Wu is a poor embarrassed baby and I think not a lot of people show him being like... dumb and like... human... oh gosh imagine if this entire story was read to the ninja... "Wu? normal? unheard of!" plus it'd be a bit ironic that he wasn't the calm and wise sensei...**

**enough of me talking, thanks for reading... see you guys late :3 oh and who's ready to see the other ninja's parents in a few chapters? Hehehe**

**~Mar**


	51. So it Begins

"Hey, what are you guys staring at?" Misako walked by, seeing Garmadon, Wu, and Kasai staring at one of the recruits Tanaka was sparring with a few yards away. They pointed that direction and the earth ninja looked that way. "Oh! That's Rose! She must have signed up after all!" A grin spread on her face, excited to see a familiar face.

"Rosie!? Are you sure?!" Garmadon blinked, not believing the claim his wife had made. Yes it looked just like her, tall, long black hair, and dark, brown colored skin.

"You knew she could fight like that?" Kasai swallowed.

The dark skinned woman swung the naginta around skillfully, Tanaka having to constantly dodge the thrusts and jabs she was doing. "I'm going to go say hi!" she trotted over, "Rosie!" Misako waved her hand high with a brightened smile; seeing that there was going to be more than just a handful of girls.

Rose lowered her weapon and looked behind her, "Hey! There's my good ol ninja girl," she raised a hand to wave as well, "Wondering when I'd be seeing you! Tanaka said you were around here somewhere, I just came last night, must have been when you were already sleepin'." She looked behind her and tossed the weapon to Tanaka. "That's a custom one from master Hiroshi himself, don't get mixed up with the others," she narrowed her eyes.

Misako of course recognized the weapon. Rose originally told her that it was a gift from Hiroshi given to her father and for as long as the two women knew each other, that weapon just hung on the wall as a decorative wall ornament. It was nice to see it was getting some use after all.

For the first time in a while, Tanaka looked alarmed at her skill and did as she requested. The two looked back, "So how have things been!? How's Nami's little boy!? Kai right? She doing good?"

Misako nodded quickly, "Yes, and she's having a girl in a few months! That's why she can't be here…" they started walking through the camp slowly. "Besides that, how's your son? Uh… Cole?"

"My little baby… he didn't want me to go… Louis too," she sighed. "I figured, hey I was a black belt in karate when I was a kid, why not help out? The government would have come for me anyways being I'm one of the secretaries at town hall," she elbowed Misako. "But hey, let's talk about you miss high and mighty; you organized all of this so when we win, you're gonna be like… a war hero with the others! Some historian you turned out to be," she laughed. "You no longer research and record; you're making it!"

"Yep…" Misako inhaled the cold air, feeling more weight on her shoulders. "I don't really care though… this was the only way to handle this situation… I saw those creatures and they're… well they're impressive and let's leave it at…" She remembered telling off the others that this would be the only way. Even she was surprised this was all really happening.

"Gods of Spinjitsu I hate this place…" Rose suddenly said, sounding exhausted. "Every time we look around the corner; BAM; someone wants to take over and enslave us all…" She groaned a little, rolling her head back.

"Tell me about it…" Misako agreed with her. "So… planning on joining the scout team? Or are you more of the brawler?"

"Psh, brawler any day honey, I can't wait to skin a few snakes and maybe hang a Skulkin head on my wall…" they finally came over to where the three boys were sitting and Rose smiled, "Well hey there strangers," she chuckled, "Congrats on the girl Kas," she patted the brown eyed one on the back just a little too hard.

"Thanks…" Kasai coughed a little.

She looked at Garmadon laughed, "You boys gawking at the way I fight or what?" she looked behind her. "Bet ya didn't expect a legal secretary could do that?" she folded her arms.

Misako laughed and looked at her, "You'll probably wanna go and get your naginta back; before someone loses it…" she surveyed the others that were sparring. "I'm going out with a small scouting team later… no doubt we'll have some visitors in the next day or so…" The woman with the long black hair nodded and walked back to where Tanaka was, knotting her hair up.

"I never knew Rosie was that good…" Wu scratched the back of his ear watch the tall woman walk in the opposite direction. "I mean… wow…"

Misako turned back to the boys, "Alright men, who's coming with me and a few others?" she asked, picking up her knives and other concealment weapons. "Or are you all too afraid to get your hands a little dirty?" she smirked.

None of the three friends backed down from that little challenge of Misako so it was the five and three selected others while Rose stayed behind as requested by Misako to make sure no one wandered off or got into trouble while they were out.

* * *

><p>"Alright guys…" Misako looked back, "You three had the best marks during the first set of training we did so Tanaka's contact has been tailing the our enemies for over a month and we just got the report last night that they places a camp three miles off from us… even that is too close for my comfort…" she sighed.<p>

"It's getting dark now so I'm going to take point on this one…" Tanaka walked past her. She wouldn't argue it because of his special sixth sense; it would just be safer for everyone anyways.

As the pushed through the bushes and shrubs that grew in the Birchwood Forest, a faint glow of firelight could be seen in the growing darkness as the sun was setting over the high mountains. This camp they found consisted of mainly skeletons, no doubt Kirchon and Arcturus would use them most up front because they were more clever than Samukai and saw the Skulkin as more or less expendable, but they saw a few of the other two armies mixed in the group.

"So how are we going to do this?" one of the three, a young woman with very short, black hair and brown eyes looked over from her small perch. She was almost like a lanky bird. "Do you want smoke bombs or flash bombs?!" she looked a little too eager to get things started as she held her bombs up in her gloved hands, crouching a little closer to Tanaka with a growing grin.

Tanaka pressed a hand to her chest, pushing her back down more. "I am happy for your enthusiasm but please be silent or they will hear us..."

"Name's Ella since you never bothered to ask," she winked.

"Okay…" Misako got between the two and craned her neck over to whispered to Tanaka, "So… your call mister phantom ninja," she elbowed him a little. "We all dealt with situations like this…"

"Let's do it right," Garmadon looked back at his younger brother, "We don't wanna do anything that requires running away if this fails or they'll catch slowpoke Wu," he laughed. Wu slumped down a little more but angrily shoved his older brother who was in a crouching position right off the tree limb he was balanced on. "WU YOU SHIT!" he shouted it a little too loud.

Garmadon had managed to claw at Wu's sleeve to drag him down with him and Wu latched his hands onto Kasai and Ella for support and ended up jerking them down with him as well. Misako covered her face and peeked through her fingers at the enemy camp activity to see if any of them would notice or hear that.

It didn't take long for them to investigate the four's fall. "I hate that man… I hate them all…" she slowly made her way over to just above the crash site. "Anthony; with me…" she gestured to the brunette that was watching the enemy more. "Crevan and Tanaka… go start the raid as a distraction… I'm calling Rosie for some back up here because this is not gonna end well…"

Tanaka nodded quickly and grabbed a cluster of smoke bombs from his belt and moved ahead of Crevan who went around the other way so they would attack from two sides. Neither Tanaka nor Crevan had to say a word to one another; they just started moving in an almost synchronizing way, but Tanaka didn't have a spare moment to question anything; he had to do this for the others.

Her scythe in hand; Misako and Anthony crouched well below the high shrubs to find Garmadon, Kasai, Wu, and Ella tangled up and groaning from the painful fall. "At least I landed on you asshole…" Wu coughed, shoving Ella off of him abruptly.

"OOF!" she spluttered rolling onto Kasai whose face fell back in the dirt.

"You all are assholes you assholes!" Misako hissed at the four idiots. "I just got a hold of Rosie and they have to clean up this stupid mess that you put us in!"

"Yea Wu!" Garmadon glared at his brother.

Misako turned to her husband and wagged her finger at him, "Oh no no no no… you started it that time sweetie," she shook her head. "It's all of yours fault, but we'll deal with that later!" she looked back at the other brunette behind her, peeking through the bushes at the sudden shouting from the camp.

Smoke and bright flashes were erupting from the middle and the skeletons were the first to go running around like crazed animals. "I don't believe those two are causing that much chaos…" Kasai looked through next and his mouth dropped open a little in surprise. "It's like Tanaka times two… I mean just look at how they move together…"

"Phantom! Phantom ninja!" one ran past a Serpentine that covered his face. "Now there are two of that blasted monster!"

"Never send a skeleton to do a snake's job…" one hissed angrily. "It is just two pesky little soldiers! You know there is a camp not far from here!" he started snapping at everyone and then looked to one of the six armed men. "Do something! You are Kirchon's second in command Heron!"

The hulking soldier named Heron nodded and found just what he was looking for when he entered deeper in the smoke where he saw the shadows the flash bombs casted against the thick smoke around the camp; grabbing hold of Crevan and Tanaka. Having six arms, of course he had the upper hand in this small skirmish. They were both strong but they were clearly outmatched this round.

"Tanaka and Crevan down…" Kasai sighed and rubbed the dirt from his eyes. "And it's only a matter of time until they find us… where the hell is Rose!? I thought she was fast!"

As if on cue; something fast moved past them and they looked back at the small fight, seeing more shadows running around just out of the corner of their eyes and a smile crept on Misako's face. "Alright, I think we should just sit back and watch this because this will get good really fast… now you guys get to see one of Rose's… hmm… expertise…"

Garmadon, Ella, and Wu gathered around as well to watch. A small volley of arrows shot through. Right now, it was a good time to be a Skulkin and not a flashy snake or soldier.

"What should we do sirs!?" warriors started shouting and asking. Looking out for only themselves, the Serpentine and six armed warriors made a scramble to get out of the site, afraid of being attacked off guard like this.

A loud and happy laugh followed as the enemy cleared out. "Oh my, _that_ was fun!" Rosie lowered her crossbow and scratched the back of her head before dropping the weapon to help both boys up. "You were putting up a pretty decent fight there you two… well… from what I saw anyways… ya know… before Heron grabbed you guys…"

Tanaka and Crevan looked at one another and nodded. Now that it was safe to come out; Misako and the others were looking at both men. Crevan had dark brown hair and small goatee and Tanaka black and clean face, but they both had the same narrow shaped, gray eyes. "I… you guys sort of look similar…" Misako looked at both, blinking. She and probably many others never really got decent look at the ever quiet Crevan.

Both similar looking men looked back at one another. Now that Tanaka thought about it, Crevan was several years older than him, and he never heard what his last name was, "Well… I live a small town not far away from here and I have a brother but I left when he was still young…"

"Was… your grandfather's name Armin… Fujiyoka?" Tanaka slowly asked; hope building up in his chest.

Crevan's eyes widened and they both stared at one another and Wu and Kasai could have fainted from such a twist. "Look at that Tana, you found your brother after all…" Garmadon folded his arms with a bit of a smirk.

Tanaka took a step closer with wide eyes, still not believing something like this was happening. How coincidental that his older brother, a man who lived in a secluded town would come here to fight and serve on the same scouting team he was on. He never really felt such an emotion when his older brother hugged him tightly.

Wu tilted his head at the endearing moment and looked back to his own older brother. Garmadon was watching but blinked and looked back at the stupid look of endearment his little brother was giving him, "I am not hugging you". He grumbled and turned away.

Wu however, ignored this and hugged Garmadon anyways. The brunette almost shoved Wu away but sighed and succumbed to the embrace… mainly because his wife was eyeing him, prodding him to return the gesture.

The group started back to camp while Rose and her group sacked the provisions of the abandoned site; a semi-successful night behind them and hopefully it would be the same or better with the rest of this sudden war.

**Tired... work... stories... updating... Taylor Swift 1989 goes on pre-order tomorrow for those on the e-mailing list... I... am... a... mess... **

**This took all of last night to do so I hope you liked it :3 Tanaka found his brother! :D Silly Wu and Garmadon moment there because I could not resist... I'm just flopping around like a dying fish right now with this story... it's hard writing war and stuff like this for me XD **

**Haha so thanks a bunch for reading guys! :D**

**~Mar**


	52. Smoke Em Out

It had been days since the little incident and finding out Crevan and Tanaka were brothers, and the other had never seen their silent friend talk so much in that time. Ella as well seemed to fit right in with the two, being she was obviously had a similar skill set with them.

"Yea you probably don't remember me at all… you were like… two years old…" Crevan scratched the back of his head. "I was around seventeen and I just couldn't take the cold like Yosho Island…" he frowned.

"So what do you do in your town? You said it was close by?" Tanaka asked.

His brother laughed a little, "Well, I'm sort of… the mayor I guess, town leader… whatever you'd like to call it…" he chuckled more at Tanaka's expression, "Yea… it was a little hard to leave to do this… especially my daughter…" Crevan looked down at his feet.

"You have a daughter?" Tanaka smiled. He liked the idea of having more family; he had a brother, now a niece and even a sister-in-law? "So when do I get to meet your wife and daughter?"

Crevan stood up and shook his head, "Well… you can meet Seliel but I'm afraid her mother Raven… is uh… well dead…" he clicked his teeth together looking sad. Tanaka remained silent for a while, seeing if his older brother would continue talking, "Why I joined this army... Serpentine general attacked us and killed her…"

The younger one was no longer smiling like mere moments ago, "I am… sorry… I should not have assumed-"

"But you didn't know… it only happened two months ago…" Crevan shook his head. "And it alright… when I find Arcturus I want to be the one to kill him…" he darkly said.

At the sound of that Serpentine name Tanaka went rigid. He wanted to find Misako and the others and tell them quickly. He started off to go find them but was tripped by something he did not see. The ninja with the pale gray eyes looked around quickly. "What the-?" he pushed himself up.

"Tripping over your own two feet now?" Ella walked over to help him all the way up, laughing. Both froze though when a rattling of a tail was heard and a pair of magenta eyes materialized just where they could see them. "Oh gods…" Ella's peridot eyes bugged out as she backed up against Tanaka.

"Anacondrai…" Tanaka whispered.

"Both of you; slowly walk to the edge of the camp and do not make yourselves obvious!" a deep voice hissed calmly. "If anyone asks, say you are going for a walk".

The two black haired soldiers nodded and stiffly started to walk, afraid of what would happen to them once they got outside of the camp perimeter. "You are Arcturus right?" Tanaka quietly asked. "The Anacodnrai leader and general of the Serpentine army?"

"Yes I am boy…" Arcturus confirmed. "You and your pesky friends are going to surrender Ninjago to us, and if they do not, I will kill both of you…"

Ella looked incredibly terrified now as she twisted one arm around Tanaka's; clinging to him out of fear. He looked at her and then back, "They are not so willing to give up Ninjago… if anything I have faith my brother and friends will kill you," he chuckled. Ella looked at him, eyes still bugging, prodding him to shut up right away. "Naturally all of you snakes think so highly of yourselves over mankind… in reality you will always be snakes… burrowing and hiding away like the cowards you are…"

"What the hell are you doing!?" she hissed angrily at him, "You're gonna get us both killed!"

He patted her on the top of her head, "Just relax… he wouldn't harm us… that would get rid of his ninety percent useful bargaining chip for the others anyways…"

She sighed and shook her head, "Oh yes… that makes me feel so much better…"

* * *

><p>Rose ran over to the map table Misako and the others were looking at. At the sight of her, they all ceased talking and planning for the newest report. "Well? What's the deal?"<p>

The dark skinned woman smirked, "Arcturus took Tanaka as the bait… though… Ella got caught up in it by accident," she scratched the back of her head, "She could very well be a liability…"

"Arcturus has a secret camp that he and the other leaders are hiding away in… intel told us that and this further confirms things…" she rolled the map up and looked to Wu, "Wanna go on this one with Kasai?" she asked the blonde beside her.

Wu nodded and went grab his weapons, Kasai walked up to her, "You sure we can do this Mimi?" he didn't look all that confident in himself.

The woman with the braid smiled and patted his shoulder, "Why of course I do… you guys just better not screw things up like last time I was up north and Nami had to save you two!" she jabbed a finger with a wink. "Now get out of here… I'll send Crevan and Anthony in to tail you guys in case Anacondrai locate you and move in invisible".

"Sounds good to me," Kasai tied his sheathed sword to his back and ran out of the camp with Wu beside him. Rose had already given them the path they took because she followed them for as long as she could. It was now up to the two younger ninja to find the secret entrance the snakes and other leaders hid in.

* * *

><p>Now that they were going to smoke them out, Misako started making the rounds to the other teams to be ready for a fight that was surely coming their way. On her way to the weapon storage she heard a bit of a boom and ran in with her husband at her heels to see what was up.<p>

A couple stood with shocked faces covered in ash and gun powder; obviously they were testing self made weapons, "What…" she trailed off, "Uh… who are you two?" Misako asked; it was getting harder everyday to remember names and jobs. These two were also obviously on weapons development.

"Ed and Edna Walk Captain!" They shouted. "Explosives experts!"

Garmadon rolled his eyes, "Greeeeat… a pair of loons get the highly dangerous stuff…" Misako elbowed him for the rude comment.

"What were guys uh… doing in here?" she kindly asked, coughing a little from the ash in the tent.

"Well we had designs for our own smoke out bombs since we heard about the generals' camp was not too far off from here… thought we could help," Edna smiled brightly, wiping the black and gray off her face and glasses. "Guess things got a little crazy," the pair both laughed.

She waved it off, "It's fine…" she smiled, "Wish I knew how do what you two do… according to the roster papers, you guys are mechanics and inventors?"

"That's right!" Ed shook the powder from his dulling red hair. "We own a scrap yard not too far out in the desert…"

"Greeeeat," Garmadon folded his arms, repeating, "Crazy junker loons with dangerous explosives…"

"Out," Misako pointed, "Gonna be rude; then I will punish you…" He groaned and pretended to zipper his lips shut from anymore snide comments. She returned to her pleasant self and gave attention back to the couple, "Now… do you think you can have a couple by tonight? Because that's when we plan to strike next…"

"We'll do our best!" They piped together. "Edna get the blast powder!"

"Why are you encouraging them?" The darker haired one looked beside him at his shorter wife, "Isn't it obvious they may have a couple of screws loose and you're letting them play with the big guns?"

Misako stopped walking and placed her hands on her hips, "I can't believe you… the only with the nasty temper that can snap at literally any moment over any little thing… question two very friendly and nice people who are actually going to help and give us an upper hand in tonight's op? It seems you're more of the liability…"

He grouchily slouched and decided to hide away in their tent since he was too tired and fed up with everything to argue with her.

* * *

><p>Wu perched himself on a low hanging branch, waiting for any signs of enemy activity. "So… it's been a couple of months; right?" he looked at Kasai who was comfortably seated in the middle of the tree where branches twisted around into a nice little seat.<p>

"What do you mean by that Wu?" the blacksmith and ninja yawned, shutting his eyes, waiting for something actually happen..

The blonde in the ninja suit shrugged, "I guess I'm just thinking about Namiko… do you think she'll have the baby soon? Or… ya know…"

"She has to be at least eight months…" Kasai nodded. He hated thinking about that; not being there to see his little girl be born unlike his son. "Well I reckon… I'll just leave when it's almost time and come back when I get the chance…"

"No one would blame- I saw something," Wu straightened up and spied some strange movement. "Up the tree more…" he had a sick feeling in his stomach. Not to mention it would be getting dark out soon, limiting their vision even more.

Without a mistake, it was an Anacondrai, one with a shorter neck, a sentry no doubt by the way it was surveying the place. Crevan and Anthony could be seen by the other two trees away from their position. Kasai knocked on the trunk, giving them the signal. Neither pairs wanted to make a move for fear of fighting off a hoard of enemies on their own though.

* * *

><p>"Move it move it!" Misako shouted, running through, "B team I want you to plant the blast charges the Walkers just finished… my team will be the distraction to take out the sentry and company…" she pocketed her satellite phone Anthony had just relayed the situation to. "Do not open fire when you get in there; we have limited amo, and I want your shots to count… do not hit Captain Fugiyoka or lieutenant Montgomery…"<p>

"Man does she get… intense…" Rose had never seen her friends like that before. She was always quiet and more at ease with things. She was running around the entire camp, shouting orders at literally anyone and everyone, whether she assigned them a job already or not.

Garmadon chewed the inside of his cheek, chuckling a little, "I don't know what you're talking about… she's always this intense," he was met with a smack by the young woman as tall as him. "Ouch… you and my wife… always hitting people! Why are you so tall and strong like me anyways?!"

"Because someone has to be the big one to smack you around!" she nodded and smirk, "Now come on… I'm the B team leader…" she started tying her long black hair back.

"Wait… you are?" Garmadon slowly turned towards her. Rose nodded, looking her hair around and tying a knot with it. "Aw man… I'm second to B team leader! I have to answer to you on this one!?"

"That's right now come on!" she started running with an excited grin on her face.

"But I'm the ninja!" he groaned. He caught sight of Misako flashing a sneaky smile and a bit of wave goodbye when he passed by. "You so owe me!" he pointed back at her.

"Do your job right without any smack talk and maybe I will!" she called back, returning to what she was doing, grabbing her chain sickle and scythe.

* * *

><p>Ella might as well of had a heart attack seeing so many enemies around her and she was tied up, back to back with Tanaka. "Ella, please calm down…" he closed his eyes and told her. "You will not be harmed and I shall make sure of that…"<p>

She looked back, "Really?" she frowned, still looking worried. He nodded silently and she started smiling a little, "You know what…" he opened one eye and looked back, "I like you". She rested her head back on his back. Tanaka just raised an eyebrow to the comment. The last time a girl he knew was like that was Namiko.

A low beeping sound started echoing in the spacious cave hideaway, everyone inside looked around, wondering what the source was. It didn't take very long to figure out what it was when it exploded, a thick black powder taking over the air, making it harder to breathe.

**Eh I'm having fun with this... and yes everyone, Seliel, the Phantom Ninja, her father is Tanaka's brother making her his niece because guess what? I can :D I liked the idea Tanaka was the first Phantom Ninja and passed along the trade to her without his brother knowing...**

**And yes, Crevan is around fifteen years older. Ella has been a fun character, I wasn't going to make another female but I figured, hey, I need some more diverse ladies besides Misako and Namiko. So I added my Rosie Stone and now Ella :D I may add Sonia in as well, but hey, now I have Edna too to work with. I love speculating on the adults and their lives before the show... I find them even more interesting than the ninja even XD**

**Thanks for reading! I feel so accomplished with the chapter for some reason... IDK... but I'm happy with it. **

**~Mar**


	53. Insult to Injury

"Hiya!" Rose's outline was barely seen in the smoke even when she was two feet away from Tanaka's sight. She pulled out a small knife and started cutting the bonds, "Thanks for doing this… sorry we took so long…" she rubbed her eye from the gas floating through the cave base.

Tanaka stood up first and helped Ella get to her feet, leading her outside where Misako was busy wrapping up the mess with the lookouts. He gave a thumbs up and she gestured to the others to finish tying the soldiers up and to move in again together.

"Nice job…" Garmadon grinned and looked back at his wife.

"Thank you, I see you and Rose did a lovely job yourselves," she brushed against him. "If we manage to at least catch one of the generals… that'll put some ease on the men…" she held her chain sickle at ready, swinging one end, ready to start whipping it around. Inside Rose's team was circling Samukai, and of course, being the coward he was, held his hands in the air.

Kirchon grimaced at the pathetic skeleton general and held his axes, ready to keep on going. "You are pathetic Samukai!" the six armed general scolded in his heavy accent. "Ve shall never surrender!" some of the six armed men shouted and raised their weapons up as well in agreement with the general.

"Wu, Kasai… we really need you right now…" Misako's eyes widened, seeing a lot of people were about to get hurt in a few seconds. A couple of beats of almost silence and two Spinjitsu tornadoes whipped in, knocking the others back. "Where's Arcturus though-" the woman with the braid felt something grab her by her tunic and low and behold the Anacondrai general had her in grasp, another hand slipping around her throat.

"Why it's been a while my dear," he hissed, looking at Garmadon with a sneaky smile. "Whatever shall you do to save your woman you pathetic creature…?"

Her eyes begged him to not jump into something stupid because he would no doubt get maimed by the Serpentine general. "I would watch yourselves… I have several more warriors and assassins gathered around this place…" he chuckled. "Like I would fall prey to your silly idea you called a trap you ingrates of humans…"

In the back, behind the large group, Ed and Edna looked at one another and pulled out several more contraptions from their bags and nodded in silence. Edna struck a match and lit a small wick that followed into a metal shell though she hesitated at first. "Edna… just do it… there'll be enough time…" Ed prodded her.

His wife nodded, lighting the fuse at last. She launched it high over their friends, right to wear Kirchon and Samukai stood. "SHRAPNEL BOMB!" she warned everyone and there was a frenzy to hit the deck and make sure they wouldn't get hit by such a dangerous weapon.

Arcturus shoved Misako into Garmadon's arms as he disappeared and took cover himself. Misako pushed her husband down first right when the little bomb went off.

After the smoke had cleared, there were several groans and wails of pain, primarily coming from the several Serpentine and Kirchon and his men. The skeletons were blasted to pieces themselves. It caused so much damage for such a tiny ball.

Garmadon shook his head, hearing a ringing in his ears, seeing almost double of everything. He squeezed his eyes shut in hope of redirecting them. "Ahhh…" Misako dragged her legs around, leaning against the boulder they sat behind. "You… okay?" she huffed.

He opened his eyes again, vision returning to normal. "Oh gods…" he shook his head, "You got hit!?"

She shook her head, "It's… it's nothing…" blood stained her pants and small tears were seen in it. "Would have done the same for me…" she smiled a little before trying to move her legs again.

"Damn it…" he looked over and saw many of the enemies were down. Skeletons mainly laid in cracked pieces and were the least bit damaged. Arturus' body was found behind several other Serpentine and was mildly damaged with cuts along his purple and black scales but he was breathing.

There were very few, but among other casualties Ed's left leg also injured. "Edna right?" Garmadon sat up with an angry look on his face. She nodded, helping her own husband to stand on one leg, knowing what would be coming next from him. "What the hell was that!? You could have killed us!"

"Garmadon…" Misako grabbed his pant leg, looking very mad at him; she didn't want the poor woman to get scolded just for doing what she knew would fix such a situation. She may have made the fuse to short so they could all take cover but it wasn't like she meant it.

Edna frowned, "Oh I'm sorry but I think I just landed us three generals…" she snapped back. "I didn't mean for anyone on our team to get hurt… but what were you going to do _Garmadon_? From what your wife and other team mates said, you never think any plans through and almost get yourself killed on a regular basis when it was just the six of you…"

He kept his mouth shut after that comment and looked back down at Misako, deciding to carefully pick her up. She smiled a little; proud he didn't bark back and cause more of a spat when there was his wife and her husband to look after besides arresting the other enemy soldiers.

"I think you need Namiko to heal you…" he finally said, looking at small slash marks in several places in her legs. There weren't too many but it was enough to make her hurt.

She nodded, biting her lip. "Yes…" she looked back at the generals and did a double take; Arcturus was now gone. "Oh no…" she closed her eyes. "All of that and we didn't even get the worst of them all…"

"I'm calling father…" Wu walked up to them. "Lock Kirchon up and send Samukai's boney butt back where he belongs…" he looked at Misako's injury. "I'll hold things down here with Rose, Tanaka, and Crevan while you see Namiko with Kasai… tell her I said hi," he smiled.

"Thanks…" Misako breathed, in pain but just felt like falling asleep in her husband's arms from the adrenaline wearing off.

Namiko sat on the porch of her house, watching Kai pretend play with Hiroshi, using toy swords. He looked very happy and into the little game the old blacksmith was playing with him. The two year old was hacking and slashing randomly while Hiroshi was trying to correct him and his moves.

"No no no Kai," the gray haired man laughed trying to get the little boy to stop for a minute, "It's slash down, slash up, parry," he demonstrated with one hand on his sword. The little one kept doing his own thing though, squealing with laughter.

His mother looked off down the road and she saw a small cart with a horse. She squinted to see its rider and covered her mouth. "Well hello there ma'am…" Kasai gave a lopsided grin. "Might you tell us where a bunch of weary travels could lodge for the night?" he laughed.

At the sound of his father's voice, Kai turned around and gaped before darting right over to the black haired man, dismounting from the big horse. "DADDY DADDY DADDY DADDY!" he chanted as Kasai scooped him, kissing him repeatedly. It had only been four months but he missed the toddler more than anything.

"What are you doing here?" Namiko slowly got up with the help of Hiroshi. She kissed him hello.

He looked back at Misako who waved a little and then he looked back, "We require your… expertise…" he licked his bottom lip. "Sorry to say it had to take something like this to make me come back home… for a while at least…"

Garmadon, you guys can have the guest bed…" Namiko stepped up on the porch, "I'll get my little medical kit…"

Misako was lying back on the guest bed, slowly and painfully removing her pants so Namiko to see the injury better, "Oh no…" she sighed. "Well… first… I need to remove the shrapnel…" she looked it over. "It looks like… four… five… pieces…" she tied her hair back. "Not too bad but I can only imagine the pain you're experiencing now…"

"No shit…" Misako clenched her teeth when she saw Namiko get their little first aid kit out. Some had to be in deeper than the other ones.

"Sorry in advance Mimi…" the brown eyed one had a guilty look on her face. "I'll see if I have any numbing stuff…"

Garmadon grabbed her hand because this could take a while.

"Father!" Wu brightly smiled when he saw the old Spinjitsu Master walk into camp, "We've missed you!" he decided to go for a hug.

"Where's your brother or Misako?" he looked around, wondering where the two might have sneaked off to. They were two of the few in charge after all.

The son sighed, "Shrapnel bomb got Misako so Kas took her and Garmadon back to his place so Namiko can work her magic, plus I'm sure he wanted to be there when his daughter's born…"

"Ah yes," his father nodded and they walked into where they were holding the prisoners. The man with the sighed, shaking his head, "Another mess of yours I must clean up Samukai…" Masuta folded his arms in his sleeves then glanced at Kirchon, "And yes… how can I forget you? If only my wife was here to smack you herself…"

The two captives both were ignoring the man in the tan robes. "Well Samukai will be thrown back you belong and I am taking you, Kirchon, to the prison… it will be nice there, you see, there have been many more added since you left… I'm sure though Arcturus broke most of the best utilizing ones out to serve him… but nonetheless I shall mop up you terrible lot…"

"Taking them off then?" Rose placed her hands on her hips. Masuta nodded and she smiled, "Nice to see you again Master," she nodded back. When he left she looked around, "Tanaka and Crevan headed back to his village nearby I take it?"

"Yea, Ella went with them also," Wu yawned, feeling tired. "I just hope Misako's alright…" they walked out together. He hated seeing her always going through some form of pain. It amazed him how the older woman could keep pushing through it all.

"Psh she's a tough old battle axe," Rose laughed, elbowing the much shorter brother. "You think a bunch of little shrapnel is gonna phase her? She's the ninja of earth Wu! Rock solid and all that?"

"Yea I know…" he wiped one eye tiredly, ready to get some sleep at last. "Goodnight Rose, you know to wake everyone first sign of an attack…"

"Of course," she walked off in the other direction than the tents.

Kasai bounced his son on his knee, sitting in the living room, "That Misako friend of yours is a tough girl… I can barely hear her," Hiroshi looked surprised. "Are you going to stick around for a few more days? Nami's getting awfully close…"

Kasai nodded, "I'd like to… I hope I can…" he sat back and closed his eyes, "Thank you for taking care of them for me… you have no idea how much I appreciate this".

The old man laughed, "They've been an absolute joy Kas… Kai here might even become a samurai when he's all grown up!" he pointed to the giggly boy just happy to have his daddy back home with him.

"Da?" he looked back, "What sa… sa-"

"Samurai?" His father raised an eyebrow.

"YA!"

"An ancient warrior who used swords! They were guards to mighty kings and regents! People even called them heroes!"

Kai turned around leaned against Kasai's chest; "I wanna be he-ro!" he looked up.

The black haired ninja smiled, noticing how much his little boy changed over the past few months, how pretty much all his teeth had grown in, how Namiko let his brown hair grow a little longer than he always liked it, now sticking up in odd directions. His eyes seemed a little different as well, a new spark of fire in his umber irises.

"Why of course you'll be a hero little one…" he kissed his nose. "The greatest of them all!" he cuddle the boy he missed for too long. "So… why don't you tell me what you and Hiroshi have been up to?"

His former master chuckled, "Well Kas, believe it or not, you little boy actually started calling me grandpa the other day…" Kai nodded looking up.

Kasai's eyebrows went up in surprise. Hiroshi hadn't been around Kai that much, sure when he was an infant the old blacksmith visited once or twice when he could, but Kai was just an infant at that point. Still, he liked the idea; Hiroshi was really like a father to him now anyways.

"All done with that part…" Namiko threw the bloody cloth and fabric away and rubbed her hands together, "Now comes the nice part…" she laughed, holding her hands over the bloody spots the metal was wedged in. Seconds after her hands glowed their gold magic. The wounds sealed up and it looked almost like nothing had happened, just leaving faint marks. "Some flesh will remain a little scarred but any damage to muscle is fixed up. You still might wanna rest though for a day or so".

Misako nodded; relieved the pain was gone at last. "Sound good…" she stretched her legs a little more, head sinking into the pillow on the bed, almost falling right asleep.

The brunette got up, "I'll you two alone now," she shut the door behind her.

"I was scared that you'd bleed out ya know…" Garmadon flopped down next to Misako, pulling her a little closer to him. "Then again; I always worry about you no matter what…" he kissed her cheek.

She smiled and cuddled closer, "Thank you for shutting that trap of yours like a good boy," Misako pinched his cheek a little before he swatted it away.

**I love the idea that Edna, though incredibly sweet and an awesome mom, she had a bit of a mad scientist way of thinking... like her and Ed liked chemistry and making stuff explode for either enjoyment, or just a part of their job. I also like to think an little bit younger Edna had some fire in her spirit when it came to defending a creation or something. IDK, just my little things I threw in XD **

**Of course the whole concept of Hiroshi is just my own creative thing that I know would so not ever happen on the show... but I when I first had Kasai become a blacksmith under him, I remember how I had Kas' dad abandon him as a young kid, so Hiroshi could have been like a replacement... **

**I just hope since this entire story is based around a couple loose facts and a couple solid ones with a bunch of OCs chucked into it that I'm at least doing an OK job at development and stuff...**

**Ugh I'm so tired and thinking too deeply XD two days of work will do that I guess... thanks for reading! I love ya guys and hanks for putting up with me ;D**

**~Mar**


	54. Keep Calm

Namiko sat next to her husband on the couch after she was done washing her bloody hands from before. "All done… and it's almost like the injury never happened!" she proudly said. Kai looked at her and sat between his two parents happily; something he was not able to do for a long while.

"How's the baby?" Kasai held her hand.

She rubbed a hand over the side, "She's… she misses you…" she smiled. "So much I think she'll be here soon…" she kissed him.

Kasai just nodded, thinking of what their daughter would be like as she grew up, which one she'd resemble the most, if she would want to be ninja or blacksmith or maybe even a samurai, maybe she would inherit Namiko's healing powers, or maybe nothing at all… He could have laughed, his Nya? She wasn't even born and knew being normal girl just wasn't in the DNA.

* * *

><p>It felt nice sleeping in his own bed again with Kai on his chest because he missed him so much. They would have to leave again the next evening though if they were going to make it back to the camp. Hopefully Tanaka, Wu, Rose, and Crevan were holding up well without the rest of them around. Masuta should have come by already to take Kirchon and Samukai away.<p>

"Kas…" he turned his head, he swore Namiko was asleep. "I think the baby's coming…" she didn't look panicked but he sat straight up; also waking little Kai up as well. He gave a sleepy yawn, and looked around, dazed. "Just stay calm Kas…" she held a hand out. "It… it just started…" she turned to lie on her back. He swallowed, not being able to say a word. "Kas… we please get moving on this before I have to give birth right here in bed?"

"I… right… right," he nodded and knew it would take a half an hour at least to get to the closest hospital in Ninjago City.

"KAS!" she shouted at him because he still was not functioning properly it seemed. Namiko rolled her eyes; it went very similar to when Kai was being born only this time he had been away for several months and use to living without her or any worries about being a husband or father, just a ninja. "Just wake the others up you idiot!" she tried to get up.

Garmadon and Misako were awoken by incoherent babbling that belonged to their younger friend. The only words they could make out were "Baby", "Hospital", and "I'm gonna pass out here".

Neither one of the couple was around the first time, but now they completely understood why Namiko was worried about what would happen if Kasai was home when their daughter came; he just wasn't good with babies.

The next thing either knew, they were all dressed and pacifying Kai, or, Misako was pacifying Kai because Garmadon couldn't touch the boy without him whining even louder than before. "Why does he always like you better?!" he tried holding the squirming child. They were sitting in the waiting room with Hiroshi, awake but slowly starting to nod off again because it was late. It had been over three hours and Kai was whining nonstop for either parent to console him.

"I don't know why okay!?" Misako was looking very cranky. "I didn't want to stick around to be tangled up in this to be honest, but they're our family too ya know… it's right we came here…"

"Please just take him…" Garmadon practically cried.

His wife slouched in her seat and groaned, "Honey I'm tired…"

"I'll take him…" Hiroshi volunteered with a yawn and Garmadon couldn't be happier to pass the little brat to anybody else. "Come now Kai, why are you being rude to your uncle?"

The brown haired boy seemed to being sitting better now than seconds ago. He was such a fussy child it seemed, or at least fussy whenever Garmadon was around. No one knew why but not many kids seemed comfortable around him, adults too for that matter.

It was five in the morning when someone came out and told them everything was fine now. The only issue was Kasai was practically passed out in a chair off to the side. Namiko shook her head tiredly and limply patted his shoulder while holding her new baby. She herself looked exhausted from the hours of labor but it was funny to see her husband half asleep.

"Oh she's beautiful Nami!" Misako cooed at the little newborn happily. "You named her Nya right?" Little Nya was now sleeping but would soon wake up as any little baby did.

Kasai was sprawled out in his chair with Garmadon and Hiroshi fanning him. It was rather funny to see for the two women and Kai was laughing at his father's reaction. "Come on Kas, even I wasn't like this when Misako had the last one…" he sighed. He looked at the glass of water on the table and raised an eyebrow, picking it up. He looked at the cup and then Kasai.

Without a moment's hesitation or a looking of mischief on his face; he spilled all of the cold water all over Kasai's face and head. That snapped the young ninja at attention, "WHAT-I'm…" he spluttered, shaking his head and wiping his dark brown eyes. "GARMADON!"

The two year old Kai bursted out in laughter at what Garmadon did and waddled over to the three men in the corner of the hospital room. "Up…" he said.

Hiroshi elbowed Garmadon to do so and his did though reluctantly. Surprisingly, Kai was not all that whiny this time around. "Well, you finally being nice to me?" he sat the boy on his knee being his father was now drenched in cold water.

"You funny…" he nodded.

"So my son likes it when you torture me!? I thought you were on my side!" Kasai pretended to look hurt as the little brunette bursted into giggles again.

"Finally a kid with my sense of humor!" Garmadon chuckled.

The two women on the other side of the room smiled. "I'm amazed at how well he's doing…" Namiko nudged Misako who looked back at her. "You know… he seems… well, I know he has the anger issues and… I'm amazed that even though he thinks that prophecy in his mother's book is true… he's not… depressed…"

"He's not dwelling on it as much…" Misako finished. "In all honesty he has nightmares… really bad ones… but I manage to keep him more quiet at night… he has taken great joy in fighting the past months in the camp… so I guess that's a little bit of a distraction for him and a way to get it all out," she passed the infant back to her mother. "He's still an asshole though don't get me wrong…"

"Well good luck to you guys…" Namiko yawned and laid back.

Misako walked over to her husband and kissed his cheek, "Come on… I wanna get a good rest in before we leave again at noon to camp… and I think we can actually sleep in our own bed for once in too long…" she yawned.

* * *

><p>"Bye daddy…" the little girl with the strawberry colored hair hugged her father's leg as him and her uncle started out the door early that morning.<p>

Crevan picked her up and kissed her cheek, "We'll get this all straightened out and I'll be home for good in no time… now be good, Eve's mother is watching over you and I would to hear you caused that nice woman trouble…"

She nodded. "I good!" she grinned. "Bye uncle Tana…" she waved a little when her father set her down on the ground again. The black haired ninja crouched down and hugged her too and they left back to camp together.

The day before he had just met little Seliel and she was fascinated with everything about him it seemed. She was simply adorable and feisty and he loved every last bit of her. He looked down at his feet as he and his brother walked back along the trail.

He never thought about it but, now that he found his brother, he had someone to live with. Yes there was his grandfather but he too was getting very old and they lived too far up north. He would have a place at the monastery with Wu and his father but something tugged at his heart to stay close to his family. Maybe he could get his own uncle, cousin, and grandparents to relocate to Crevan's town so they can just be closer.

"What's eating at ya Tana?" Crevan asked.

"Just…" he sighed. "I was thinking about where I will go to once this is over… I have been living at the monastery most of my life now with Wu and Masuta but I have no idea if I would want to go back…I miss the family up north but I… was wondering if it would be okay to stay with you and young Seliel…"

The brunette brother smiled, "Well… that would be very nice to have family around again… I would be honored if you wished to live with me and my daughter…" he put an arm around the younger as they continued to walk. "Only if you're sure…"

* * *

><p>"Hmmm…" Garmadon grouchily grabbed his bag and started walking out the door. "I don't wanna go baaaaack," he complained. "I wanna stay home and hideaway from the rest of the world... let Rosie take charge and end the war with that stupid ass snake…"<p>

Misako was ignoring him though the entire time. She realized ignoring his many complaints would get him to stop eventually. She was just plain tired and didn't want to have to deal with his immature behavior. The entire way all she heard was how he was getting saddle sore and how this was a dumb crusade and everything in between.

They were just a minutes from camp when she finally snapped off, stopping the horses, "CAN YOU SHUT THE HELL UP FOR TWO SECONDS!?" she looked over at him. He was taken aback by the sudden response after hours of silence all day.

After the shock was over he thought of something to come back with, "How about you make me you four eyed bookworm…"

She looked at the horse and hit it's behind, making the animal buck up; tossing the red eyed ninja off; hitting the hard ground. He groaned, feeling like all the air was knocked out of him. "How about you shut you red eyed, angry piece of dragon fodder…"

He got up, backside covered in dirt and hair messed up and filthy too. She was still sitting on her own horse, trying not to laugh and he grabbed her around the waist, pulling her off. "Oh you're gonna pay for that one Mimi…"

Even though they had work to do, they temporarily forgot about war and all the country to save. They had fought a little too much for either's liking over the past few months. They loved each other and both knew that very well. They just wanted to get back in a more normal lifestyle.

"I'm sorry I made your horse buck…" she sighed as they sat on the side of the road, calming down from the two minutes of yelling they did.

"I'm sorry I was complaining all day and called your four eyes…" he lowered his head, looking very guilty. "The last thing I want is the venom to make me lash out at you…"

She patted his arm and leaned her head on his shoulder and let out a long sigh, feeling tired. "Wu always told me you would go on to hurt me if I stayed with you…" she remembered but never had the heart to tell her husband what his brother thought just to protect him from the older brother's wrath. "I think he still believes that…" she said with a frown. "What… what do you think?"

"With my luck I probably will…" he scoffed, looking away from her. He never wanted to hear his brothers "dreams" because he was just afraid they would come true. "Every day goes by and I'm never sure how it'll play out… what will blow up in my face next… I always feel angry… about anything… the smallest thing can bug me…"

"I know but you have to control it… try to at least… you never asked for this and you can't blame Wu… he has done nothing wrong towards you…" Misako held his hands.

Garmadon hit the back of his head against the tree they sat against several times out of frustration, "I seriously don't wanna talk about this Mimi… I just want to wake up and find that I'm a normal guy… and we have a little boy girl that's safe and okay and maybe another on the way… but… I'm not… I'm the cursed son of the Spinjitsu Master… every villain I meet tells me I'm on the path of evil that'll by my end… I'm scared every time I close my eyes… but I guess I just have to live like this because life's not fair…"

She hugged him tightly. She wasn't him and no one knew what it was like to have evil thoughts and venom pumping through your veins twenty four seven. "Well… let's go back to base and… we'll work to make this all over and then we can go back to being normal for however long you want before you get bored with that… okay?" she smiled, kissing his cheek a couple of times.

"Yea okay…" he closed his eyes.

* * *

><p>"Ah… so this is all getting to you guys?" Rose leaned back, stretching. "Personally I don't blame you honey, your married for so long… and you're not just team mates… it's hard when the woman's always in charge… the man starts being all needy and crankin' out… being a dumbass… at least you guys share a tent… things might be worse if ya didn't…" she went on.<p>

Frankly; Misako just wasn't listening to Rose talking. Her mind was in a million other different places. Kasai was going to stay for a week or so with Namiko and then come back again. That little baby she held was so adorable, it reminded her of her own daughter she lost to the despicable Time Ninja who had still yet to be punished for what he did to her. And that led her to think about what Garmadon was saying earlier about being normal.

Misako wanted to be just as normal as he wanted it. She wanted to have another baby; she knew that's what Garmadon wanted, though, he never really said it out loud anymore because that's just the way he seemed to be. She, and even he understood, getting pregnant now wouldn't be much good, which was why she kept driving everyone to end all of this.

Ninjago was relatively safe now that two armies were very slowly disbanding because their generals were thrown in prison. Serpentine had been terrorizing more and more now since that happened and they had to be sealed away or they would kill off everyone and seize power for themselves. Knowing the government would naturally be no help like it never had for years since they always relied on the ninja for assistance in such matters.

"Hey girl…" the green eyed one looked up. "You okay? You seem… out of it…"

"I'm just fine… tired is all…" Misako nodded and sat back, closing her eyes, "Rose… how do you feel about all of this? You have a little one and a job and here you are… signing up to do this terrible thing…"

The dark skinned woman raised an eyebrow, "Well…" she started, "For one… yea I have a little one… I love my Cole so much… I want him to grow up in a world where the bad guys stay behind bars and he's safe… I could care less about my job as a legal secretary okay? The stupid ass mayor we got ain't worth shit of you asked me… and I know you needed help… the mayor almost didn't give that to you and I would signed on to be with your little troop of crazies no matter what… so relax… I'm here to help you…" she smiled, wrapping an arm around her tightly.

The emerald eyed ninja smiled and hugged the brown eyed one. Rose was always rough around the edges when it came to getting down to the facts and sometimes it made her laugh, her bluntness. "I know… I just get stressed out… you know me…" she sighed. "You should give a talk to Garmadon too… he's been all kinds of stressed too…" she smiled, laughing a little.

"Oh I promise I will…" the other cracked her knuckles with a smirk, seeing it as a challenge.

The woman with braid grinned back and decided to get up and see what everyone else was up to, maybe read more of Delilah's book to Garmadon and Wu who always wanted to read it it seemed. One good thing about the book was that it brought them together in a good way.

**Keep calm... so appropriate for our stressed out heroes... anyways... I'm trying to workout at least a short Christmas story... it may be like... 5-10 chapters... I'm not sure but it will begin on the 1st of December! I'll try not to put anything else on Hiatus this round XD**

**I always imagined Cole's mother would be strong and feisty and very blunt and to the point. IDK... but I figured she would be a good leader like Misako and her being a ninja of earth at one point since Cole ends up being the leader of the team.**

**So... long chapter wow... and I updated this at... two am... geeez... Thanks for reading though!**

**~Mar**


	55. Aftermath

_"__We found him"_

It was the greatest news anyone had ever heard all month of the Serpentine search and Misako and the others quickly gathered to go and follow the intel of Ella and Anthony.

It had been another long and tiresome five months since they got back and Namiko had the baby. Progress was finally being made as Arcturus' base camp was all the way on the other side of the mountain range in the desert stretch, thinking they were safe and well hidden from any spies the ninja had.

Leave it to a lousy scout who had led the two spies straight to them. They were in a huge cave no less. The best part of all was there was a giant rock formation on top that was a landmark of the ancient battles of Serpentine when they first came into being four thousand years ago.

All of the camp moved to circle about half a mile out from the base, a select few actually going in to end them, that being Garmadon, Wu, Tanaka, Crevan, Ella, Misako, Rose, Kasai, Anthony, and even Ed and his wife Edna who developed a better version of their little shrapnel bomb, one everyone knew to stay as far from as possible because this time; it would do even worse damage.

They struck in daylight because the Anacondrai loved to spy out at night. They would seal the cave up but they needed to injure as many of them as possible to make sure they couldn't try anything for a while in case the seal wouldn't last.

Ed and Edna pulled out a couple of smoke bombs with the Fugiyoka brothers and chucked them in. Confused shouts came from inside and Arcturus shouted at the men they were now under attack. Tanaka and Crevan moved in next being this was their expertise, throwing around flash bombs and tear gas Ed designed.

In next wave came the others that had to coral the monsters in more. Through the smoke Arcturus caught sight of the attackers and hissed darkly, "Ninja… you pathetic… cowardly…" he looked back at the other Serpentine, "Pythor stay out of the way…" he told his son. "I know what they plan to do next…" he said it darkly.

The smallest Anacondrai shrank back right when the attackers started backing up, "NOW GUYS!" they threw their weapons inside and they pushed themselves to go faster and make it out. After the first explosion they rolled a giant stone in front of entrance together and listened to the shouts and cries of the Serpentine enemies and collapsed to the ground.

It was now over.

* * *

><p>Pythor couldn't see all too well in his new dark prison. He was barely scathed unlike the others around him that would soon die because they were right up front while he hid in the back like what his father told him to do. "Son…" he heard a wheezing voice. "Survive! Eat our corpses if you half to but survive and kill the people that defeated me! Kill their children, their friends, students, anybody close to them… make sure they suffer like we have! I do not care how long it shall take you, but above all… make sure you kill any child of the cursed one with the red eyes!"<p>

* * *

><p>It was a mad house organizing everything to go back home. Everything would be fine now or at least that was what everyone told themselves. Tanaka on the other hand was now stuck with what he could do now that this war was over. Wu walked alongside the much taller one with a smile on his face. "So, when we get back home to the monastery, do you think we can-"<p>

"Wu I am sorry but I think I shall go to live with my brother and niece…" The black haired one cut the blonde off. "I uh… I am so grateful for your friendship and of course we are still a team but for now… I wish to be with my true blood family… I hope that you are not upset…"

Wu's blue eyes looked down and his expression was no longer happy, "I… understand completely… I'll miss having someone else around to talk to all day though," he nervously laughed and looked away, walking ahead more. "I don't blame you… you have an older brother that loves you…" he quietly said the last part, afraid anybody would hear it.

Why did everyone leave him? First his mother and she was even all that close with him, then his chance of love with Misako was taken away, any hope with his brother was always fluctuating, Kasai and Namiko moved out and had a life, now even Tanaka was moving out, granted he would still be rather close but still... He started believing they all would never be as close as they were as kids now rather than just making a theory, it was already happening before his own eyes.

Sadly, he knew there was nothing at all he could do to bring them together. Perhaps something would though, because he didn't want anything more to change than it already had.

* * *

><p>After everything was situated the ninja and their small group of friends went up to the monastery before going to their own homes to inform Masuta on what had happened. It had been a total five months since Wu saw him and even longer for the other and the youngest son was the most shocked of them all.<p>

He looked even older than the last time they saw him. His blonde braided hair was almost completely white and he seemed more tired. "Father…?" Wu frowned.

"I know I look different but my time is almost up I'm afraid…" the very old master told them. "I may have a couple of years or maybe even months… who knows…" They looked in silence and couldn't find anything to say to that. He couldn't just die. He lived for thousands of years; he was basically a god in a flesh suit. Then Wu remembered his father's words again about a father burying his children.

_"__Is father giving up his life or is it really being revoked as he ages?" _he frowned; silently wondering the strange mystery. Though Wu was the closest to him, Masuta still never shared too much. It was a little frustrating being in the dark all the time.

The silence was then broken. "Enough of that; what became of Arcturus?" he waved his hand, more interesting in knowing the outcome of his students' quest.

"Locked away in an ancient cave… him and the Anacondrai won't be able to escape ever again," Tanaka explained.

* * *

><p>It was almost strange being back home and everything returning to normal, or, relatively normal. The young men and women also had no idea what to do after being away for almost an entire year. They all promised to always be a team now that they had more friends who would no doubt help in the case of a problem.<p>

Namiko was again on her feet balancing work and her two little fussy babies. She kept them upstairs in what use to be her home and worked downstairs at the bar. Kai was rather sad to see Hiroshi go back home though, the two had rather bonded over the year. Kai now had a new mission however given to him by the old sword master himself; and it was to protect his baby sister at all costs. His parents were rather surprised at how he loved Nya with all his heart and was always at the side of her crib, making sure she wouldn't cry or be unhappy.

If not, he would do anything from giving her as many stuffed animals from his room he could, playing peek-a-boo, and attempting to juggle hammers. Most landed on his poor feet, though it hurt him, it made her squeal with laughter and giggles.

Seliel herself was filled with delight to see her father return home and with even more family than just Tanaka. She was still sad about her mother, but her grandparents, cousins, and uncle would quickly take her mind away from such matters. She was only four after all.

Despite the many things happening in everyone else's life that was exciting and happy, it seemed that the Spinjitsu Master's family was having a bit of a tough time readjusting to their simpler lives again being they didn't have children or other family members like the others. Wu kept himself busy with training on his own and he never really complained out loud anyways, but Garmadon and Misako was another thing.

"I'm bored…" Misako looked over at him in shock he actually had said that.

She couldn't help but feel a little annoyed with his mood swings. "What now? You were just saying months ago how you wish there wasn't so much action and all that…" she rolled her eyes and went back to reading. Unlike him, she was fine with silence.

"Yeaaa but now there's nothing," he leaned on her, head falling into her lap like a little boy begging for the attention of his mother.

She sighed and stroked his hair. "There there…" she kissed his cheek. "I'm sure some kind of bad guy will show up so you can beat the snot out of them…" she closed the book and set down on the next cushion over. He could be so stubborn and the same time adorable it drove her insane most days. "For now just accept that you have no job to do okay? Besides…" she frowned again, "Aren't I good enough for you?"

"Meh… yea…" he answered lazily and she leaned her head down to give him a kiss. "By the way… have you seen my mother's book? I haven't gotten a chance to read any more of it since a few days before we found Acturus' hideout… There was something I wanted to read about the Great Devourer…"

"No… do not go and depress yourself again with reading that… every time you go back to those pages you're never alright… and… I don't know where it is now… did you even remember to pack it back up when we were moving out?" she realized, hoping it would turn up somewhere around the house it already was a month since all of that was cleared up.

Then again… it could have been left behind and now lost in Birchwood Forest... she really hoped not.

"It'll turn up, it might have fallen behind the bookshelf or something…" she shrugged, trying not to feel panicked about the idea of ever losing it. It was special to the brothers and besides that; it could be bad news if someone on the wrong side ever found it.

* * *

><p>"What's that?" spindly fingers grasped the leather bound book and brushed it off. "Sigan! Look what I found!" she looked back and called for the Time Ninja. He jumped down beside her, "It's by Delilah… it must belong to that Garmadon and his brother…"<p>

He smirked seeing that there was information on prophecy and the Great Devourer and in the back were more blank pages, "Hatsu… I have a most wonderful idea… it may take some time though because it will be most tricky to orchestrate… we need to make plans and carefully set everything up…" she raised an eyebrow and smiled too. "We have to go back to our little hideout…"

Her black, scaly wings opened up from their folded position under her long black hair and took her friend to their little hideout on the other side of the forest, in the mountains to show Kappa and Malice what the two assassins had found.

**Plot set up stuff that's hella obvious it is and not only with Pythor and Lloyd stuff but also for my own stuff *mysterious music plays as I impersonate Jack Sparrow* **

**I just realized my Hatsu is basically the only female villain here... well... besides Kappa but she never kicked the snot out of anyone like what Hatsu did and the both can control guys... but Hatsu also has her creepy cult magic... so yea... I demand more female villains... anytime people ask why I have so many female OCs I'm like "Dude there are never enough chicks!" Hence all my ladies...**

**So yep... thanks for reading! Gosh this is the 54th chapter in my word doc... dayuuuuum...**

**~Mar**


	56. Onward

"Move it!" Kasai shouted at the others lagging behind him.

"Is all of this shouting necessary for this?" Namiko sighed as the others were rushing around under his order which was very different for once. "I mean this is not a big deal-"

"Mama?" she looked back and sighed at her little girl. "What happening?"

Kasai looked behind at Nya who was standing with Kai behind her, "I tried to keep her away…" the brunette lowered his head a little. They looked back to Nya who was sucking her thumb, looking around with her wide brown eyes that matched Namiko's.

Her father walked around his wife and picked her up first, "Happy birthday my little Nya," he kissed her nose, hugging her tightly.

"All of this just for her third birthday?" Garmadon rolled his eyes, all her heard all day was Kasai gushing about how his little girl is turning three and he wanted everything to special for her or how perfect and adorable she was and how well she and Kai would get along, almost like magic. He was sick of any and all baby talk from his brother's best friend.

His own wife chuckled though at his reaction, "And just wait until we have a baby and you will fall all over them just like this," she pointed at Nya who was giggling and she hugged her father tightly back. Once he put her down Kai gave her something in a little box.

She opened it and squealed, taking out a little stuffed cat that was a dark red color with black patches. "I wuv him…" she gasped and snuggled it close. "Thank Kai!" she hopped up to her five year old brother and kissed him on the cheek which prompted an "awww" from literally everyone except Garmadon. The two were even closer than inseparable if that were possible.

It reminded Wu of him and his brother when they were their ages. They were close like that but now they were on the brink of being enemies, always in limbo of the two.

"What are you gonna name him sweetie?" Namiko asked her.

She looked at it and frowned for a minute and then her light brown eyes lit up, "I know!" She hugged her brother again, "I name him Kai cus' he's red!" she squeezed it so hard her mother was afraid the stuffing would pop the stitches on the plush. "And he'll be Sparky's best friend!" the year prior Kai had picked out the little blue stuffed dragon for her second birthday, knowing she loved the color blue and was fascinated with tales of such creatures.

"Ooh she's so cute!" Ella squealed seeing Nya bring out her little Sparky. "You two make some great babies! And they get along so darn well!" she laughed and the couple blushed a little at her compliment. "When's the next one?" she joked.

"I had a boy and a girl, so I'm done," Namiko sat back on the couch, two babies were far too much. "That; and I'm sure next time Kas would finally have had a seizure instead of his panicky spluttering and pacing…"

The others, including Garmadon this time, laughed, mocking the poor man, while he got up and walked away from their conversation. "You try being me! None of you have kids!" he slouched and folded his arms.

"Not true," Garmadon raised his hand, looking more serious, "Or did you forget about-"

"Okay please…" he wife shot him a look, cutting him off. There he went being jealous again. It was rare they would talk about their past babies and most of the time it was wishing they knew what they would look like or how they would act and which one they would look more like. "I don't want to hear you bring them up like that for comparison or rubbing your pain on them for a guilt trip…" she uncomfortably looked down as she told him quietly.

The others awkwardly sat between them. Of course Ella wouldn't know what they were talking about because the younger girl had no idea what their lives were exactly like before meeting them in the war three years ago. She looked to Wu for a little insight and he just shook his head a discreetly.

"Sorry…" Garmadon apologized after a couple seconds of the silence.

"Hey! Sorry I'm late!" Crevan and Tanaka came in with Seliel. "There's the birthday girl," Tanaka crouched down and squeezed the little girl tightly. "Miss me sweetie?"

"Ye uncle Tana…" she nodded happily and hugged him back. "I got a cat!" she held the stuffed toy out to him. He continued to smile and pet the cat while Nya meowed, making it like the plush was licking is face.

"Oh gods; is that Seliel?" Namiko looked surprised seeing the strawberry haired six year old hiding behind her father. "Hey sweetie!" She smiled sweetly. "Remember me?" Seliel nodded and smiled a little more now. Namiko looked up at Crevan, "I think Rose said she would be coming over too same with Ed and Edna, not sure…"

"Someone say my name!?" Rose laughed and walked right in, holding her son. "What's up guys!?" she waved. "Louis!" she looked back, "Get in here and be social!" she looked back and chuckled. She set Cole down and he looked at Seliel. "And for the love of the gods stop worrying about making it back for your rehearsal!"

Seliel was now over with Kai and Nya, when she looked back at Cole, she frowned and folded her arms, "What are you staring at?"

The seven year old boy paused and looked her in the eye, "Your hair is really red…" he commented, staring it her curls. "It almost looks pink…"

She didn't say another word to him though after that and Cole's face fell, prompting the adults to go "awww" together. "Breaking hearts and she's only six…" Rose watched Cole sit on the couch, wanting nothing to do with the strange girl now.

"That's my Seliel," Crevan grinned at his daughter who sat with Nya and started playing with her. "By the way…" he looked at Misako, "did you ever find the journal?"

Garmadon and Wu both looked at her expectantly. The book had been lost for almost three years now and no one could find it anywhere. It was starting to worry the small group of friends. That book held so many secrets and important information they would need to help protect Ninjago.

"I'm sorry but it must be lost forever…" she sighed, shaking her head. "I have no idea where it could possibly be right now… I'm so sorry guys…" she looked at the brothers who seemed to try and understand. It personally frustrated her to not know something.

"It's okay… it's not your fault, any of us could have lost track of it," Wu tried to make her feel better about it. She was an obviously leader because she always shouldered any and all losses they had. One reason he loved her still.

She nodded, "I know… I just can't help it… it was so special to you guys… and I carelessly lost track of it in the rush to get back home…"

The phone started ringing and everyone looked surprised. Namiko assumed it would have been Ed or Edna calling; saying that they and their son couldn't make it. She was surprised to hear it wasn't either of them; it was Masuta who greeted her. "Master?" she blinked. "Yea… they're right here…" she looked at the brothers and the woman between them. "He wants to talk to you…"

Misako gingerly took the phone and Garmadon and Wu held their ear by it so they could hear the conversation too. "What is it father?" Wu asked, hoping something wasn't wrong.

_"__Listen…"_ he started. _"I am so sorry to interrupt the party but I want you three to investigate the port town Umibe because a messenger came by just now and begged for someone to help them, with what he never said. Can you do it?"_

They looked at one another and Garmadon shrugged like he didn't care. Misako licked her bottom lip, deciding for them, "Okay we'll go…"

_"__Meet me at home in an hour". _He hung up.

"We need to go," Misako hung the phone up, "Sorry guys…" she started hugging everyone goodbye. "But something just came up; we'll see you guys later!"

Garmadon rolled his head back as they walked out, "Whoopdie freaking doo… we get to investigate some boring port town down south…"

"Nothing is ever good enough for you huh?" Misako raised an eyebrow. "Something comes up and you think it's boring…"

Wu chuckled in agreement with her, "You have worse moods swings than a woman." Garmadon gave the usual glare to the younger one as they walked out.

* * *

><p>It felt like forever since they would be the trio they once were so long ago. Together they stepped up to see their old master and father standing there, just waiting for them. He looked so old now; they wondered how long he would really have left. He always said it would be any time now but they started doubting if he really would die.<p>

"Good good…" he greeted them. "Umibe's a port town and a fishing hotspot, has been having some… weather issues it seems… much like Yosho island when you found the last ice warrior… I… am allowing you to use the golden weapons again for this because I have no idea what you may face… possibly another race or creature that can control weather…" He almost regretted making that decision because of Garmadon.

"Then shouldn't we call Tanaka so he can come too? What if the Tornado of Creation is necessary?" Wu blinked, still not understanding why it was just the four of them going together.

His father shook his head, "I just want you three for this, I trust you to get what done that needs to be done, so please, take the weapons and be off". He told them. Without another word they did as they were told, grabbing their bags and heading south for the coast city.

_"__May the luck of the gods of Spinjitsu be with you when you face whatever is there my son…" _he watched them leave through the gates and walk down the descending stairs that were carved into the mountain.

"So… what do you guys think is up with Umibe?" Wu broke the silence after twenty minutes. They were just about a mile outside the city now but they had a long enough way to go. "I mean… weather problems? That's a little… ambiguous… don't you think?"

Misako looked down, trying to think but growing frustrated at the same time, "UGH! I wish I never lost that book! It might have had something that would have given us a bit of a heads up on what we're going against… I have never been this in the dark in so long…" she shoved her hands in her pockets; slouching her head forward.

"Stop blaming yourself for everything!" Garmadon snapped at her. "I refuse to hear you doing that anymore…"

"Yea!" the youngest agreed. "I probably dropped it because I'm such a screw up!" he grinned, shrugging a little.

Garmadon frowned, "No… I probably dropped because _I'm_ the idiot screw up…" Garmadon turned to Wu, folding his arms.

Misako stopped and looked back. _"Are they actually fighting over who is the most stupid?" _It was a very rare sight indeed; if only she had her camcorder on her to capture this flawless moment of two grown men behaving like children over a girl still.

She tried to get a word in but they just get talking over her, "You think you're a screw up!? I almost got myself killed challenging Cardinsto THEN Gahrann! So ha! I have you beaten because you are just too nice and good!" Wu opened his mouth but couldn't find anything to say, "Hey honey I won!" Garmadon looked back at his wife.

"You both are idiots…" she walked past them and the two looked confused. "I can't believe I thought my only choices were between the two of you of all people…" she rolled her emerald. "Come on you losers… how about we step up the pace and do our job? Your dad is really counting on us it seems…"

As they walked behind her, the two brothers were constantly elbowing and shoving one another. Misako didn't have to turn around to know they were doing this. They were so predictable. She smiled to herself though because they were her best friends after all these years, regardless that the two harbored romantic feelings for her.

The not so merry trio traveled onward, in the backs of their minds was wonder of what would be lurking in the waters of the strange little port town.

**I sort of imagined Kasai being like Maes Hughes from FMA, gushing over his baby girl and all... also Rose would get poed at her husband's obsessive compulsiveness about the Royal Blacksmiths... BTW, since Cole is seven here, it is literally just before his big dance flop, that's what Lou's rehearsal he HAD to make it to was for. **

**Oh yea and it'd be funny if Cole and Seliel met as little kids but naturally forgot each other over time. XP And I really enjoy using the facts on the character profiles on hehe...**

**Thanks for reading! **

**~Mar**


	57. Stormy Sky

They walked through several towns on their way to Umibe. So far they had been traveling for six days and it still felt like a million miles away for them. They all seemed to be getting along though which was a nice for a change. It was almost relaxing but then again, maybe Garmadon and Wu were too tired from hiking to snark at one another; either way; it was good.

"Umibe is another seventy miles… all the way at the edge of the continent… I think it'll take another day or two on foot if you don't take a lot of stops…" the man pointed to the map then down the road they would have to go. "I don't know why anybody would go there though… I mean… it's like a typhoon's been nonstop hitting that place… most people fled to here and other cities… good luck though…" he walked back down the road, past the three.

"I for one am tired…" Wu sat down on the nearest bench along the dirt road, slouching back on the hard surface. He felt everything ache. "Why not just stop here for tonight and start tomorrow morning? I mean… we can make it by early the following morning maybe; right?"

Misako shrugged, "Yea alright, that sounds nice since I'm tired too…" she stretched her arms above her head. It had been a while since they walked over the course of week just one way, not mention they were sleeping along the road and it would be nice to have a bed for one night. "Honey do you mind finding an inn or something?" she yawned, rubbing her eye. He was the only one that seemed to not be exhausted like the other two.

"Yea whatever…" he said in a monotone voice and started walking away from the two to do like she asked him.

Misako waited till he was gone and looked down at the younger brother who probably would fall asleep on the bench soon. "You okay Wu?" she sat down next to him. "Or is Garmadon being mean again when I'm not looking?"

"Meh, it's fine, I know I'll never be good as him and get a girlfriend and all that crap he says…" he half smiled. "I am so close to zapping him with my nun chucks," he laughed, swinging one end of the gold weapon encrusted with sapphires. He really did miss using them and was glad to have them back, even if it was just for a little bit while they were on this mission.

She laughed as well, "Yea… maybe he deserves a nice spanking… with lightning" she patted his shoulder, agreeing, "Maybe it'll put him in his place and chill him out for a little bit. "So… what do you think is causing the storms?" she got serious and changed the subject. "Maybe you remembered something from the book I didn't…"

Wu frowned, trying to remember anything that could control weather like the Ice Warriors. He went down the table of contents in his head, some he couldn't remember though but did remember one heading that was in relation to the Great Devourer. "I think there was something under Great Serpents…" He finally said.

"Hmm…" Misako tried to continue thinking on. She read nonstop about the Great Serpents; there was all kinds of different ones that lived in many regions, though most were extinct nowadays. "Typhoons… and tidal waves…" she muttered, "Water serpents?" she looked back at Wu.

"It could be…" he agreed. "Plus I remember there was some other kind of race that was labeled as just a myth because they lived in the depths of ocean and well… I highly doubt my mother could breathe under water," Wu chuckled. "So it could also be that… I remember the drawings sort of looked like that siren woman… Kappa… not sure what they were called exactly though… but maybe she was proof they do exist…" It had been years since they saw her and her stupid gang with Sigan and Hatsu and they were grateful for that.

"Well I guess we'll find out what we're up against when we get there…" she sighed and stood up, feeling more rested. "Garmadon's coming back… let's go and get some sleep…" she yawned.

* * *

><p>A bed would always be better than the hard ground and it was far warmer too than sleeping outside, especially since the air became colder the closer they got closer to Umibe. When night fell it started to rain which was strange because the sky was clear all day and it was like it instantly showed up. It pounded the shingled roof of the building and not long after it started to fall, it became louder and it turned to hail.<p>

Misako frowned, looking out the window, hearing nothing but the rain and hail, when she saw lightning flash, it made her jump out of her skin, nearly falling off the bed in the process. "Hey, you okay?" Garmadon had caught her when he sat down and quickly pulled her close to him. He looked at the lightning buzzing around outside not to far off and then they heard the rumblings of thunder that followed quickly after. "Never saw lightning like that…" he frowned.

"You… don't think it's starting to spread do you?" she looked up at him, holding her husband closer. "I mean… What are we going to do against something that can do all of this? What of we don't stop whatever is causing this and all of Ninjago becomes flooded?"

Garmadon sighed, "I'm not entirely sure on that one to be completely honest… then again when am I ever?" She raised an eyebrow and he scratched behind his ear with a sheepish grin. "I know I'm not much a comfort…" he rested his head on hers, closing his eyes. He was starting to get tired and felt sore from their long trek. He wanted to forget everything and sleep, cuddling her.

They tried not to think about it anymore and just wrapped themselves under the covers together, quickly falling into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

><p>The sun didn't look like it even came up when the three opened their eyes and set foot on the road again. The storm was even worse as it raged on above their heads. They were happy they had brought their rain gear at least because it would take them even longer to continue on in the storm.<p>

Hours later someone was on the roadside through the mist and fog that stopped them. "Scuse me but most of the town is boarding up and evacuating! You can't come here! It's dangerous!"

"Yea but we're the three Masuta sent…" Wu shivered as another gust of wind whipped by, blowing his hood off as he tried to hold it up.

He looked at the three, "You three are the ninja?" his mouth dropped a little.

"What were you expecting? If we wore our ninja suits we'd freeze to death!" Garmadon rolled his eyes, a little annoyed at the man that was keeping them from getting inside as he felt the hail pelt him in the head while his patience was wearing thin incredibly fast but kept his mouth shut.

"Yes… we are…" Misako looked back. By now the team knew she was the best at talking. "Can you lead us to the town so we can take care of the problem?" she politely asked.

Finally, he led them inside to one of the remaining places still running. Very few people were in there as well, some pacing to leave. "You see… we're all afraid this storm will never pass… and many businesses are down… so we all are moving away…" he looked around at several people. "But I know that something else is causing this… here," he was passing blankets around so they would dry off faster.

"Thank you... and yea, that's what we believed too…" Misako took her drenched coat off and took a seat, accepting the blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders, Wu and Garmadon copied her. "This started two weeks ago, correct?" she asked. He nodded. "Now…"

"Silas…" the blue eyed man said.

She nodded; "Now Silas… was there… anything that happened to cause this?" a clap of thunder came right after she said that. "Is it a monster or someone else?" she thought maybe if there were nature wizards like Cadrinsto, maybe there were ones of water or other elements.

"I wouldn't know…" Silas shrugged. "I personally don't dilly dally in such silly things, I'm merely a merchant's assistant".

He obviously was going to be of no help to the three. It was frustrating, Garmadon was right; how could they stop something they didn't know where it was coming from? The three ninja stared out the window at the ocean that made huge waves that were overflowing on the docks that was leading into the streets.

There had to be something they were missing.

Garmadon wasn't paying much attention though the storm; he was always looking back at the man named Silas and he wasn;t even realizing it half the time until he looked back at him to meet his gaze. He didn't know why, but he didn't like his presence, it made his stomach knot up, especially when he looked in his direction. He wouldn't say anything though to his wife or brother yet because the man was staring right back with his depthless blue eyes seemed to be threatening him now silently.

He swore he knew those eyes from somewhere when their icy gray color turned a darker shade of cerulean he saw somewhere. Then he noticed there was a small deformity on the side of the jaw when the corner of his lips tugged up, just like someone had broken it there. His glowing red eyes widened slightly because he knew where that injury came from and he didn't like this new situation even more.

Silas just sat with a haunting smirk on his pale face and Misako and Wu never even noticed the two men staring at one another or registered they really were in trouble now.

**He he, I'm happy I'm dedicating a series of chapters just for the three... they're all perfect together... Wu should totally zap Garmadon though I may not find time to work that in... I can always try... **

**Expect a Christmas update later or tomorrow. I'm almost done with the next chapter. As for now, thank you for reading this :D See you guys around!**

**~Mar**


	58. Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Garmadon went rigid when he came to his realization. Silas smirked and pointed discreetly to the two beside him that were looking away, not even paying attention to him. He ran a finger along his throat, signaling he would kill them first right now if he said anything to either.

The red eyed ninja narrowed his eyes, angry the man would threaten them like this. He also knew that this all could be his doing, the storm, maybe in hopes of getting the four elemental ninja to come down to such a secluded place with the Golden Weapons and then shove the four into the rampaging ocean and be on his way with the sacred weapons.

That's what Garmadon's eyes showed and the other shook his head again with his cocky grin. Garmadon was now puzzled. If that was not his plan, then what was? Why would he be here? It had to be his fault Umibe was being tortured like this. Or was it something out of his hands that he still used to his advantage?

"Hey… what's wrong?" Wu looked back at his older brother. Garmadon glanced back and the man who introduced himself as Silas was not there anymore. "Garmadon?"

"Uh nothing…" he shook his head and looked back out, a knot in his stomach.

* * *

><p>Later on the two adversaries found each other and were able to speak alone. "Okay <em>Silas<em>…" Garmadon angrily hissed, "What's with the storm bullshit? If you wanted to talk to me; how about you just show up at my house with a knife to my wife's throat this time?!"

"Still angry as ever…" he tutted. "I mean really…" he laughed. "I foresaw this weeks ago… I thought it would be a perfect opportunity… not to mention Masuta agreed to send you here because it's not like he can fight me off anymore… though him sending the blonde chicken and bitch threw me off…"

Garmadon hated whenever he called his wife that. He wanted to just wring him by the throat and naturally he would see that coming. "So… why I wanted _you_ here dear Garmadon…" the time ninja laughed. "You know my henchwoman; Kappa? She is of a tribe called Mizu… naturally they live in the dark waters by here… and are sick of this port town and their garbage…"

"Oh no… hippies…" Garmadon rolled his eyes. "Those things have terrorized Ninjago for centuries before my father made a peace pact with them… now cut to the chase Sigan before I get my wife to break your jaw again…"

Sigan didn't like the sound of that and held a hand up to his jaw. It left a bit of a deformity because it never healed right, one reason he almost always wore his ninja hood on a normal occasion. "Fine I shall…" he gave a tight smile. "My friend's family like I said… they're planning on coming up here because they're sick of living under us humans…"

"Can you please talk normal and say what you want to say!?" the other was growing more and more impatient at the slow talking foe.

"Of course since the Mizu are not even my main point; I just enjoy seeing you get so angry!" Garmadon glared with a look of murder but once more had to restrain himself which took a very high level of concentration. "Something else lurks in the waters that's aiding them… in fact, they're controlling it… the Water Serpent…" Sigan folded his arms, "What would I want with this magnificent beast? I wanted it lured up to the surface to have you kill it… the Mizu think I was helping them by giving the idea to torture this stupid little town…"

"Is it impossible for you to explain things? Is it!? For the love of the gods why do you need that to happen?"

Sigan shrugged, "I need some of its teeth… that is all…"

Garmadon raised an eyebrow. This had to be a joke, "No seriously… what is it? You can't possibly want to kill something just for one part of it?"

"No that's it really…" Sigan still looked like he had something to hide and Garmadon slammed him against the wall, hands trying not clench at his throat. "Oh I love it when you get like this! Makes it all the more fun!" Garmadon let go moments later. He just wanted to get away and tell Misako what was going on. "If you tell the bitch, I'll kill her like I did with your precious daughter… only it'll be bloodier I assure you," he seemed to read his mind. "And yes you are an open book, I can always tell what you're thinking!" he laughed.

Garmadon stalked away. That couldn't have been everything.

Sigan stretched a little, still smirking, "That anger will bring you death and I'm proud to say I shall contribute to that… Garmadon… dear Garmadon… everything is falling into place with your downfall… I promise you that…" he shook his head. "You stupid little bastard…"

* * *

><p>"Look at this…" Misako had a video recorder in her hand. "A girl recorded this the other day…" she played it.<p>

Amongst the waves something else popped up, just barely noticeable in the foam. "A tail?" he blinked, not sure what to make out. She kept replaying it. _"So… Sigan was right…"_

"We think it's one of the legendary Serpents after all! The water one!" Wu grinned, wrapping an arm around Misako's shoulder, proud of the team work in figuring it out.

Garmadon wanted to smack his brother in the head for doing that to his wife but he didn't really care right now. Oh how he wanted to tell them it was Sigan who was here with them. Why shouldn't he? Misako could take of him no problem. But what if she couldn't this time… He shook the thought away completely.

After some time talking about the serpent and what they knew of it, Garmadon finally had to tell them _something_ about what was really going whether it was directly to the point or not. "Wasn't there tribe of water creatures that lives along the south coast?" he asked, looking around, paranoid Sigan would be watching him.

His wife's green eyes lit up the way they always did when remembering information of relevance, "They're the tribe that water serpent guards! Mizu I think!" she frowned, thinking of the pages to the book and looking at Wu because they were talking about it just days before. "They could be controlling it". Oh how he loved she seemed to always catch on to what he was trying to lead her to. "Now that we probably know, let's go on out and call them out!"

She jumped to her feet and ran outside with Wu right behind her. They were almost like kids; that was how excited they were. "How the hell do we kill this thing though…" he sighed, shaking his head and lagging behind them, too tired to deal with this stupid problem. _"Why can't that idiot Sigan do his own dirty work?"_

As soon as he turned to look past the fog and mist something came straight out of water that shot up a hundred feet in the air. "Oh my gods…" Wu gaped. "It didn't look that big in the book!" he looked at his brother and sister in law, almost scared of having to deal with such a monster.

This would be by far the biggest thing yet. Before this it was always just people and smaller monsters or creatures, never a beast like this.

_"__This is the monster?! How the hell does Sigan want me to kill this thing? Why the hell just me!?" _Nothing was making sense. Why was Sigan even disguising himself as a villager from Umibe? What was the point in all of this?

**Yea it was Sigan. I'll be honest, he wasn't gonna be a big part of this but then I kept needing someone and I was like "Screw it; he's gonna be like the main reoccuring villain because the hell not!? He's awesome and I included Hatsu and Kappa a lot because we seriously need more lady villains!"**

**Also I thought Sigan would be like the most wise guy, antagonist ever... **

**Thanks for reading though! Any guesses on what will happen? :3 I already have a bunch written out, I just need to divvy everything up and revise XP Later everyone!**

**~Mar**


	59. The Serpent and Dragons

It was surprising when they landed right in the courtyard of the monastery just a week after his sons left with Misako on their own little journey down south. It was unusual though how they would come back after so many years of being away, just the two of them. He then figured each dragon was somewhat linked to the ninja they had bonded with over their short time together.

Masuta heavily sighed, looking at the green and purple dragons in front of him. "Yes all three are in Umibe if you must go to and aid them… the Time Ninja is there though and what he has in store for them I cannot foresee… but he wants Garmadon for something no good without a doubt," he petted Kage across the bridge of her nose. "You were Delilah's; my wife's… now go protect the son she loved so dearly and foresaw a terrible future for…"

The female dragons nodded their heads and the pair started flapping their huge, leathery like wings and took off into the sky, towards the stormy port town the three ninja they were seeking were in.

"What are you up to… what are you gaining from all of this…" Masuta narrowed his eyes, talking to himself. Everything never seemed to make sense anymore.

* * *

><p>There was some delay to their reaction to start to attack this monstrous thing when it shot straight up from the frozen depths of the ocean. The trio was frozen where they stood with shocked faces, shaking from the cold and sprays of water that dumped on them. A different kind of roar was heard over their heads, a pair of roars to be more accurate. It overpowered the crashing of the waves on the docks.<p>

Misako squinted, trying to see in the clouds but her glasses kept fogging up, "Itchii and Kage!?" she blinked; almost afraid she was starting to see things now. She removed the glasses to wipe them off and replaced them on the bridge of her nose. "Why would they be here?"

"You mean two of the dragons we rode all those years back!?" Garmadon looked quickly for the one he befriended that belonged to Delilah at one point long ago. "What…? How did they even know we were here?" He was almost happy because this meant things may be a just a little bit easier this time.

The purple and green dragons finished their circling and landed behind them on the road. The three could read the strange look of worry in their eyes as the females inspected their past riders. "Maybe they knew something was up…" Wu frowned, wondering the same thing as he watched them sniff his brother and sister-in-law curiously.

The other two didn't seem to think any more on it and fell forward on them, practically hugging them around the neck. "Oh I missed you guys!" Misako saw Itchii lowering her head, wanted her to ride her. "Think we can take this thing out from the sky?" she raised an eyebrow, looking back at the brothers.

"Better plan than latching on and possibly drowning…" Garmadon shrugged and got on Kage who started licking him until he did so. She seemed a little overly friendly to him especially.

"I'll uh… wait here then…" Wu sighed and looked around awkwardly when they both took off. "Just uh… I'll be throwing some lightning or something then…" he looked back and felt a wave of cold water hit him. If he wasn't wet before, he was certainly wet now. "Well this sucks…" he looked up. "Wisp? You gonna come too?" he called out, hoping the lightning dragon would hear him. "No?" still nothing. "Okay…" he lowered his head and sighed, annoyed.

"Okay… devising new plan…" Misako clicked her teeth together, muttering to herself. Until she could, the dragons just started launching fire balls at the serpent which in return sprayed water back angrily, getting them wet just like Wu below on the docks, currently soaked to the bone.

"Try this one!" Garmadon smirked and jumped off, landing on the monster's head.

"GARMADON!" Misako screamed with complete irritation; leave it to him go ahead and do something stupid anyways. "THAT WASN'T MY PLAN!"

He smirked, "I KNOW! IT WAS MINE!" he shouted back to her.

She gripped her scythe in one hand, trying to see him in the mist and fog, "WELL I NEVER CLEARED IT!" she yelled back him, knowing he wouldn't go back anyways.

He ignored her completely now, igniting his sword and started slicing it around the serpent's head as it hissed in pain, for a water serpent, it hated fire. Kage hovered nearby because she knew him well enough to know he would fall off and need assistance soon when it happened. She blasted a fire ball at the serpent's snout.

Doing this, Garmadon did trip over… however; he didn't fall because the serpent caught him by the left leg angrily and bit down with his powerful jaw. It was officially pissed at the red eyed ninja for making terrible cuts around his eyes. "OWWW!" he yelped. "OH SHIT-!"

Even Misako heard him curse, followed by the cracking of bone and that was when her heart stopped. She flew around and saw he wasn't being crushed like she expected him to be. She grabbed his arm when she got closer and Wu lit the water up, naturally shocking his brother and even zapped Misako at the same time.

"WU!" Garmadon gave a strangled shout, "YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE YOU LITTLE SHIT!" he shouted as loudly as he could. A muffled apology was all he could hear now from below.

Misako let out a sharp whistle and the two dragons started firing off again and below another giant explosion of electricity came up, Misako let go, not wanting to get zapped again. This time, it pretty much knocked the older brother out and the monster let go of him as well. The poor brunette had black spots on the edge of his field of vision and he now had a headache.

His wife had grabbed him again and pulled his other leg over on Itchii's back. "Garmadon… come on… you're okay…" she held him close, not bearing to look at what she knew would be broken. "You can relax… okay? We're gonna put you down…"

"Hmm…" was all he could respond with when he heavily rested his head against her chest and blacked out completely from the pain or Wu's second wave of electricity. She was just happy he was out so the other two could finish this up quickly.

"Oh gosh is he alive!?" Wu gaped at his older brother, forgetting the monster he just stunned. Misako nodded and slid off, careful trying to get him off as well. "That's a lot of blood…" he wiped his mouth but it did no help being he was drenched.

"_Idiot_," was all she could manage to say right now. "What a…" she then growled. "He always does this!" she felt like smacking him to keep him awake just so he would get tortured by the injury he allowed to be caused to himself.

"Just… you know he's stupid…" Wu sighed, gripping her shoulder. "You know he'll never stop doing stupid things as long as he lives… but come on… we can't smack him around now… we need to get him back home and get that taken care of," he pointed to the split, exposed bone.

She nodded again, not believing what just happened. "I know I know… we're going to chase this thing away and bring him back home…" Misako repeated, shaking her head at the darker haired one. "You're right… you _are_ the stupid one". She got back up on her feet and ran back after her dragon, pulling the scythe out once more.

Wu crouched down and looked at the bloody spot where the bone was split and found a tooth. "Hmm…" he looked out and saw several more lying around. "Well at least that thing lost a lot of teeth when he bit you…" he pocketed the sharp tooth.

He then turned to Kage, "Uh… hi…" he waved a little. "I'm also Delilah's son…" he bounced on the balls of his feet with a hopeful smile. "Can I have a lift as well to help Misako?"

Kage yawned lazily and dropped with her head near Garmadon's, licking his face like a dog watching over its sick owner. She looked up at the heavy rain and then held a wing over him, like an umbrella. "Yea I had a feeling you would do that…"

Wu looked back up to see if Misako was anywhere to be found and heard more roars. Gripping his golden nun chucks, he ran ahead, ready to fry the serpent out of the water.

**Awwww yeeeea... I like to imagine the dragons like big puppies most of the time from what I've seen of Cole with Rocky... maybe I should write some stories with the dragons more in it... hmmm... that can be an idea...**

**Garmadon always manages to get hurt... you never learn from your mistakes man... oh wait that's like me so I have no right to complain to you... especially when I'm the one actually writing this lengthy story...**

**Well, thanks for reading! Le gasp... another past midnight update!? Yea because I'm an owl. Nine more days until Christmas! See ya later!**

**~Mar**


	60. Recuperating

"How ya doing?" was the first words he heard from Misako when he tiredly opened his eyes. Everything looked blurry at first and his eyes hurt. "How're you feeling sweetie?" He heard her repeat, this time more clearly. His whole head felt clogged up.

"Like my foot's on fire…" he groggily said, looking away from her, wanting to pull the covers over his head to escape the sunlight coming in through his window.

She held up a giant tooth that was bigger than the palm of her hand and he looked back at it in shock. "This was wedged in your split bone with a few others that Wu found but managed to pull out… and yea, it was broken when that nasty beast bit down… you've been out for about two days… I don't blame you for sleeping that long from a shock to the body like that…" she laughed, sitting on the edge of the bed. "We're home by the way… Kage and Itchii brought us back before they flew off again…"

He just nodded at everything he said because he felt sick to his stomach from the stabbing pains shooting up his leg and he had a terrible headache in the back of his head. He actually rolled over and did so, grabbing at the garbage can next to his bedside.

"Hey! There he is…" Wu walked in and shook his head and said a little too loudly. The older brother held his head with a bandaged up hand and barely was able to sigh. "I gotta say… that was pretty stupid of you… then again I shouldn't be surprised by that anymore…"

"I wish I could smack you… shame I'm too tired…" Garmadon managed to say and felt the cast around his ankle and foot when he rolled back onto his pillow. "Gosh… how long do I have to wear this thing?" he asked, trying to find the energy to sit upright but his back hurt too.

The other two looked at one another, "Like… six months… maybe… depends… Namiko may be able to speed up the healing by half that, but broken bones like this are tougher on her…" Misako patted his shoulder gently. "And yea… that means no being a ninja for while…" she kissed his cheek. "I'm sorry…"

"Greeeat…" he grimaced. "So how did that battle end? I think I passed out pretty quickly…"

"We took care of it…" Wu answered. "The dragons managed to chase it back into the east ocean with some injuries and where it can't bother people with changing the weather and all of that and the Mizu got pushed back even more because the violated the pact… so… you're welcome for finishing the job for you…" he smirked. It felt good to know his brother couldn't wail on him for be so snarky for a little while, might as well use it to his advantage.

"Whatever… as long as you gave a few blows to that stupid bastard of a snake…" he looked away. Speaking of bastards, he suddenly was remembering Sigan wanted him there. Was this his plan maybe? To get him hurt? What else could it be if this was the desired outcome?

"Well I'll see you guys later," blonde haired brother waved and left again.

Misako smiled, "Thanks for coming by Wu… see you later…" she watched the younger brother leave their room. "My brave little ninja…" she pinched her husband's cheek, snapping him out of his dark thoughts. "That was very brave of you… stupid… but brave I guess…" she lay down next to him. "It's so cute how much you say you don't care when you really do…" she coddled him.

"Whatever…" he rolled his red eyes again. It was his answer to anything mushy or cheesy she said to him. "All I know is I'm going to hate the next few months…"

* * *

><p>Hatsu looked over each tooth and smirked, "Nice… perfect for one potion in particular that you need… and the rest I can still use…" she stuffed them in her shoulder bag. "I suppose you want me to send the ransom to pay off the next guys to come in?"<p>

Sigan held a hand to shush her, "I want him a little more rested up before we start the next wave… not mention he broke a leg or something… that just simply won't do right now."

* * *

><p>The hardest part of getting around now was that the first few weeks he couldn't put much weight on the badly broken ankle. He felt pathetic walking around with a crutch and wife for support. He ended up wanting lie around instead but sadly, Misako just would let him do that, something about "staying reasonably active".<p>

After about two months, he got used to walking with just the crutch but it still hurt.

"I know it sucks big time…" Misako was lying on the other end of the bed, looking at her hand of cards; she had to do something to entertain him all day. She was lucky she could get time off from the museum to take care of him all day almost every day of the week or at least take work home with her.

"Full house…" she threw down the cards with all kings and two queens a tired, yet triumphant look on her face.

"You cheated!" He accused her, pointing from the other side of the bed.

"Either you lose ten bucks or take off another piece of clothing… I'm not arguing this again" she leaned on her elbow, smirking and wondering what he'd do. He scrunched his nose and handed her a ten. She plucked it from his hand, "You're so not fun…" she giggled. She won all but one round and all she had to take off was her shirt, Garmadon would rather pay her up than take anything else off.

"I lost thirty dollars already…" he grumbled.

"Hey, I give you the option to strip… once you run out of money, you're going to have to…" she sat up and reshuffled the deck for about the seventh time that day.

"I'm out of money now though…" he closed his eyes, laying back. "I'm not playing anymore…" he threw his cards at her like a child who lost a board game. "I refuse to lose to you anymore!"

"Drama queen…" Misako added his cards to the deck. "What do you wanna do then? I take time off to entertain you and this is the thanks I get…"

"Pfft; thirty bucks and seeing me shirtless in my boxers isn't good enough?" he scoffed.

She looked up and raised an eyebrow, "You're complaining doesn't always help ya know… it's always "this is boring" or "I think this is stupid!"" she mocked in his constant angry tone.

"Don't you make fun of me! You try lying around for months and not being able to do _anything_!" he flopped back.

Misako almost wanted to smack right where that cast was but she resisted knowing it was too mean and put the cards away for some other time. "I have too ya know… it's called being pregnant… and I think it's a little worse personally…"

He kept silent and she lay down on top of him, sighing. "You're stubborn… why did I marry you of all people in Ninjago?" she started feeling tired.

He shrugged a little, "Maybe because you're too nice and thought you deserved me…" he put one hand behind his head and yawned.

"HA!" she laughed, "More like you think you deserve me… not with that attitude anyways you do…" she pushed herself up a little and looked at him. "After all the shit I put up with you; I think I should get you a shirt that says "Egotistical Jerk: If Found; Please Return to the Smarter Looking One"…"

He then did something she didn't quite expect. He found the energy to roll over so he was on top of her. "You're hilarious Mimi…" his hand touched her side. He started tickling her suddenly and she bursted out in her loud laugh she almost never did unless she couldn't control it; it had a snort and everything.

"I can't breathe!" She hollered and accidentally kicked his shin that was still sore. The pain radiated down his leg and into his foot and she then realized what she had done.

He promptly rolled off of her and brought his throbbing leg up to hold it. "OH MY FREAKING GODS!" he shouted loudly. "SHIT!" he found it harder to breathe let alone curse from the intense trauma to it.

"Oh gosh!" Misako sat up and looked at the injured limb. "Garmadon I'm sorry!" she didn't try to touch it. "Oh… let me get the ice…" she went to the kitchen and came back with the bag of ice mere moments later. "Here…" she held it on for him.

"I'm gonna be sick…" he wiped his eye, feeling his stomach clench.

"That's normal for pain like that…" she tried to get him to calm down from the jolt, rubbing his back. "No more tickling though…" she told him. "We are never doing that again…"

"Sounds great…" he clenched his teeth together. "Ah!" he winced, trying to be so tense.

After twenty minutes or so she took it off and froze it again. "Well… now that that crisis is over…" she sat back down. "You okay?"

"Maybe…" he breathed. "Sorta…"

She giggled, "I didn't know your voice could still crack," she fixed his messy hair. All he could do in response was glare at her.

Misako shook her head. It was always something wasn't it? Someone getting hurt, someone arguing, it was just a normal day for them and that's what made Misako always tired. It had always been just them when it came down to things. They could have had two teenagers by now if the universe didn't hate them so much, if you wanted to get all dramatic about it anyways.

All she asked was for one more chance; one child; nothing more. She often wondered if there were gods that could help them in their time of need. She hoped yet she never saw anything happen. It was just fighting all day long, whether at home or on a battlefield.

She looked back at her husband, "I don't wanna fight… I don't wanna hurt each other whether we're teasing or not…" he held her hand. "I just wish I could change our lives… make it so you never were bitten by that dumb snake… where we were normal people… or that our babies were alive and we could have a family like every other couple in Ninjago…"

"Mimi…" he sighed and wrapped his arms around her tightly, cuddling her closer.

"I don't know why I didn't wanna try again those few years after we lost Hope… maybe now I can't have a baby at all…" she sniffled.

"You don't know…" he sighed. "You don't know anything… okay?" he kissed the top of her head, trying to get her to calm down from the sudden outburst. "I love you more than all of Ninjago and beyond that…" She knew he meant it just by the sudden change in tune.

He kissed her but started off gently and quickly turned into kisses she knew when they were feeling tired and needy. It had been a while being she was too afraid to touch him in any way because she knew she could hurt his leg. She hooked her thumb in the waist line of his underwear while she tried slipping her own sweatpants off when he started pulling at her drawstring.

"Are you sure now? I don't wanna hurt your leg again…" she knew it must still be hurting even after all the ice.

"Of course silly…" he nuzzled the side of her face. She figured he'd say that being it'd been a little too long for either of them. "Just… make sure not to kick right at my right leg and I should be fine…" he chuckled, touching her sensitive skin around her hips.

It had been too long for her and she wasn't use to the sensations as she felt goose bumps on her skin and they sat up more so he wouldn't have to hold himself up for her. She felt his hand run up her spine, making her gasp between moans. "You're so ticklish I swear…" he mumbled into her neck, his other hand combed through her messy light brown hair as he felt her rock a little since he wasn't up to it. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, clawing at his upper back, right where the dragon tattoo's head was.

"Oh gods…" she gasped again, pupils shrinking when he thrust her down on their bed. "Ah…" she felt him unhook her bra.

Not long after losing breath and growing tired from such an intense activity, the two lay wrapped up in their blankets and each other's arms, "Hey… Misako?"

"Hmm?"

"You… won't ever leave me… right? No matter what happens?"

"Of course I won't…" she answered. "I promise…"

And the two drifted asleep, hoping that maybe, they could not have to deal with wizards or evil ninja or other insane monsters.

**Garmadon you have no idea...**

**I have been in too many medical situations where I almost threw up from pain... it ain't fun let me tell you... But I never personally had my ankle bone split a part by a water dragon so... hehe**

**By the way... so like... they're playing optional strip poker... if you don't know what that means, it's every time someone loses they have to take off a piece of clothing till your like... naked... that's what I understood of it anyways... but I figured it'd be funny if he lost out on around $40 to his own wife... ((ther'es this Scandinavian(SP?) Fairytale called The Linderworm (love that one so much) and the end part is basically a high stakes version of strip poker if you wanna google it XD))**

**This one may go on hiatus for a week or two maybe... then again I have two chaps left of Getting Back Together and it's five days till Christmas so that means my story should be about done with that! **

**Thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate it all :) Hope you have a great Christmas!**

**~Mar**


	61. The Cultist's Offer

Sigan sat across the table with Hatsu on his left; standing silently in the shadows of the dimly lit meeting place, stretching her scaly, black wings because she honestly bored with the dignified way Sigan would make his plans. "So… is it a deal or what!?" the man with black hair that was graying tapped his fingers on the desk, awaiting an answer, he too was getting impatient with this conversation.

The man on the other side of the table with a henchman of his own was on this left, standing silently, "You are saying… the son of the great Spinjitsu Master… he's the cursed one?" he raised a bushy black eyebrow. Sigan quietly nodded, still drumming his fingers. "Well then Sigan… you want the ruin of him… a world where chaos reigns? Well… I suppose I may have to accept in on this grand scheme of yours…" He grinned, his jagged teeth showing.

The time ninja smirked, "Well I thank you Chen…" he pulled his tapping hand back and sat up more in his seat, now satisfied with the other's answer. "Very soon you will make him an offer that he will not be able to refuse… and you will lead him down a darker path…"

The one called Chen nodded, "But… his father… Masuta… will he get in the way of this? Surely that old fool would have hi sthumb on his oldest child-"

"The old man is growing weaker by the day… I have no doubt in my mind he will not be able to stop me… he and Garmadon hate each other as it is so it's not like he'll listen to him anyways…" the cerulean eyed man then remembered something, "Though… he has a goody two shoes wife…" he covered his mouth, brow furrowing. "The little bitch has been a thorn in my side for far too long…" he growled. "I think I'll work on taking her out at sometime… not yet though because I may be able to use the fact he gets furious whenever she's in harm's way… just make sure you make Garmadon the offer soon tomorrow perhaps…"

"I'll do my part…" Chen waved his hand, "For now… this discussion is done… I have more things to see to…" he snapped his fingers, "Clouse; let us go". The other with the mustache nodded and walked after Chen.

"You sure he'll do what you want?" Hatsu raised an eyebrow. "You know Chen is just as sneaky as the Anacondrai he worships…"

"Hatsu my dear… he will do just fine! Did you send word to the others?"

Hatsu sighed, "Yea… Kappa's handling her end and so have I".

* * *

><p>Garmadon was still forced to rest by Misako who seemed more instant that ever. In fact, she was in the backyard along with Namiko, Ella, and Rose who were having some girl time… by this; they were doing target practice with their knives and shurakins.<p>

"YA!" Rose launched a star that wedged itself to deep in the thick wood target that it split it up and actually went all the way through. She stood proudly with her hands on her hips.

Ella gave a long whistle, "Nice shot girl," she clapped with the other two. "I wonder if Misako could beat that," she smirked, looking at the brunette beside her.

Misako cracked her knuckles and got up, grabbing a knife, "I bet I can do just as good…" she pointed, "I'll even go back another five feet…" she walked back more and launched it, making another huge crack. The green eyed woman looked to the taller one beside her, "Hey Rose… ever think that you could use Spinjitsu too?"

"Never tried and it's no big deal whether I can or can't to be honest…" Rose shrugged. "I have my little boy to raise and stuff… I can't always tag along with you and the crazy ninja club," she chuckled.

"I once heard Masuta mention about descendants of some of these element masters… he thinks I could have been from earth… and you're pretty strong too… I wouldn't be surprised if you could be too".

"Imagine that Mimi, long lost cousins!" Namiko laughed. "That'd be something for sure… I mean… even if you just had a common ancestor… That must mean that Garmadon, Wu, and Kas could be related in some way too!"

The darker skinned woman rolled her eyes and shook her head, "I can't worry about stuff like that now…" she looked at her watch, "I gotta go! This was fun! We should get together more often!" she wrapped her sweater around her waist and picked up her purse, walking out the back gate. "See you guys tomorrow!"

"Same time! Later Rosie!" Misako shouted after the gate swung shut.

* * *

><p>Garmadon sighed, hearing the loud shouts and clapping, knowing they were having fun without him. If he could just stand on his own then maybe he could throw some knives and then Rose would probably Robin Hood his knife just because she had a powerful arm just like his wife. "It isn't fair…" he laid his head back and sighed.<p>

"Well… maybe I can change that…"

Garmadon was so startled he banged his leg on the platform of his bed and groaned, seeing black spots on the edge of his vision but shook it off, slowly lifting it back up on the mattress, "Ugh… what..?" he looked at a stranger in his own doorway. "Who the hell are you?" he was not feeling too chatty right now on account he just banged his leg and hated every minute of his life since he broke his leg.

"My name is Chen…" he held his hands behind his back, "and I have heard many a tale of you son of the Spinjitsu Master…" Garmadon sat silently, just wondering how this guy would know him. "We have not yet met before but I know you are one who will certainly be interested in something I have to offer…"

"Well gee, in case you didn't notice _Chen_, my leg is broken," he gestured. "Now can you get out of my room let alone my _house_?"

"He said you were stubborn…" the other muttered under his breath. "I have a circle of men I train with… and I have no doubt we could all learn something from the son of the head master…" he started. "We reside on a place called… The Isle of Dragons… surely you've heard of it?"

"Yea… I have…" Chen could see Garmadon was looking a little more interested but was still grouchy about something, "But I'm not so sure I'll be able to do whatever creepy cult thing you obviously are involved in…" he looked at the skull piece on his head. "And by the way… I hate Serpentine…" That was shut down interest rather fast.

"Of course… I was told of your little team who stopped the war… tell me… no one truly appreciates your power and choices… now do they?" Garmadon shut his mouth. "Of course… I know people like you because I was one of them… but now I have my own ring of people who was called stupid and crazy by… _normal _people… So… why don't you think on things for a little bit and maybe I shall see you again…"

He turned to leave which Garmadon was thankful for but Chen stopped and looked behind him, "By the way… should you choose to accept or decline… if you speak of this to your dearest wife… well… I'm a very powerful man Mr. Garmadon… whether you believe it or not… if you come with use for a little bit… perhaps you too could be even stronger than you are…" He saw Garmadon's eyes widen. "tata for now…"

That left a sour taste in his mouth. He still didn't even tell Misako that it was Sigan as the so called kind and helpful Silas back in Umibe. There were too many strange things going on, it was almost like all of this was some piece to the same puzzle even though his mind just couldn't connect all the dots and it wasn't like he could talk to anybody to see if he wasn't just going crazy.

He hated to admit, but he was torn in two in all honesty. If he went along he could probably learn something even greater that his father wouldn't have taught him… and if he refused he could have saved himself a great scam. He didn't know this man, maybe his father or mother did but he was pretty sure he couldn't ask either of them, and he didn't even want to have to go to his dad.

This was the first time he had to make the decision all on his own. Judging by past calls he had made… he could understand why the others thought it was a bad idea. He covered his mouth _"Well… all he said was that I couldn't tell Misako… what if I told Wu and he told her?" _There could be a loophole around that one no problem.

"Hey there sourpuss," Namiko came in behind Misako and Ella followed as well. "Ready to seal the rest of that nasty split bone or what!?"

It took him out of the thought of decision and he nodded looking his normal grumpy self again, "Yea sure, you said you'd repair the bone last week… but then you ran out of energy…" he pulled up the pant leg of sweatpants. "Just get it over with… I hate listening to you chicks having all the fun without me!"

Misako and Ella snickered with one another and Namiko tried her best to keep it in as he hands glowed gold. "Okay now, I think we'll be able to get the swelling down and at least make it so you only have a month left to wear this thing," she patted the cast lightly.

**Hehe so I haven't seen the new season at all but I know that Chen and Clouse knew Garmadon before hand because Garmadon said he'd never go back and all that jazz... well I had to rework some stuff I wanted to happen... but I think this is gonna be fun adding new factors than what I originally planned for! **

**Ah look, girl time! Because my ladies are amazing. I also read speculation of what parents the ninja inherited powers from and figured, hey, even though I gave Misako earth as an element, Cole's mom would totally be an elemental master descendant... **

**Thanks for reading! I'm finally gonna get on a better schedule now that I squared away two stories! I plan on at least completing more of Master Quest 2 before starting to post another story! Have a good night!**

**~Mar**


	62. Brotherly Advice

Garmadon stood up, putting a little weight on the leg that was still bad. It had been two weeks since that Chen guy had visited him and he was done trying to think this one over on his own. He hated going to anybody but Misako though, but it had to be done. Lucky for him, Misako had to go to work and she had asked Wu to come by and make sure he'd be okay without her.

"Oh hey… you better?" his brother looked back at the older one when he came out.

"Yea…" Garmadon let out a breath before sitting down hard on the couch. "I know I don't do this kind of thing…" he coughed, "But I kind of… well… I kinda," Wu raised an eyebrow, wondering what he was going to say, "…need your help…" he slouched his head forward.

Wu stared at him with wide blue eyes. He didn't believe what he was hearing; his older brother, the guy who thought he never needed any help at all _ever_… was asking his younger brother, who he called an idiot since forever, for _help_?!

"Nice joke Garmadon," he chuckled. "But what do you possibly need my help with? What can be so bad that you defer to me?"

Garmadon covered his face, "Do you know… if dad spoke about a man name Chen? Or… any kind of cult that worshipped Serpentine or group that lived on the Dragon Isles?"

The blonde frowned, folding his arms. "Well there was one entry in mom's journal about cultists that were torturing the dragons she befriended… even killed some of them apparently… I'm not sure if they worshipped Serpentine though… why are you asking me this?"

The brunette bit his lip, hesitating even more as he looked around, "Because two weeks ago I met a guy… and he made me an offer to got the Dragon Isles and train with him and… other guys I guess…" he sat back, resting his leg on the coffee table being Misako wasn't home to yell at him. "Said if… I told Misako… well I think he threatened to kill her…" Garmadon wiped the side of his face, scared just thinking about it. "I figured… if I told you then you can tell her and well… maybe it's a loophole or some shit… I don't know!"

The blonde was genuinely surprised at his brother's behavior. He had never seen him so agitated before in his life, save finding out he got Misako pregnant when they were nineteen. "And by the way Wu; there's an even bigger thing I'm afraid of…" he looked back over. "I'm… I'm actually considering this…"

"WHY?!" he jumped to his feet. "Why would you even consider going along with those guys who threatened Misako and probably was one of the guys that killed a bunch of mom's dragons and… and… these guys are probably something dad would want us to stop and-!" he stopped abruptly. "Wait a minute…" he frowned. "What can… oh this could work…"

"Quit mumbling! What could work!?"

"This…" Wu had a hint of a smile. "If you say yes… this could be pretty big for us…" he started pacing a little, "We could totally tear these guys apart because they actually asked you to join them! Haha!" he punched the older one in shoulder and received a glare for the gesture. "Ahem…" he backed away, "I mean… you go to the island… you train with them and stuff and learn their secrets… and then me and the dream team swoop in and HI-YA! We kick their butts!"

"Wu you idiot that-" his mouth hung open. "I… that isn't completely stupid… but Misako would never let us do that! And the other girls probably wouldn't like it either…" he sighed. "Not to mention the whole my can be in serious trouble if they end up being really dangerous?"

"Who needs the girls!? All men; I say we do it!" Wu was looking a little too excited about doing something behind the girl's backs. "What could go wrong!?"

Garmadon just couldn't believe any of this. "Tell me brother... am I running a fever?! Am I hallucinating or is this some dream because I don't believe you're the one trying to get _me _to do this! Have you gone insane or something!?"

The younger stopped and looked down, "We're always fighting… why not just go and do this and be a team for a change?" he held his hand out. "What do you say Garmadon?"

The older held his hands to his face, considering how bad things could get for once in his life. He grabbed his brother's hand, "Oh fine… but if we get busted the it's all your fault!" Wu nodded happily. "But how am I gonna do anything with this leg!?"

"Well… it's close to being healed, yea?" Garmadon nodded. "Maybe I can get Namiko to come twice this week or however long it'll take her to finish it off…" he scratched behind his head. "But… find a way to contact that Chen guy and say you want in!"

"Sure…" he waved his hand. He couldn't believe he came to his brother get talked out of it and instead was talked into it. Now all he had to do was find that guy again… or maybe Chen would just come to him after all.

The front door opened abruptly and Misako, Ella, and Namiko stepped in. "Hey honey!" she kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks for looking after him Wu!" she hugged her brother-in-law. "See you later!"

"Yea see ya! I'm going over to hang out with Kas!" he waved before shutting the front door once more.

Garmadon folded his arms and looked up at his wife with a frown, "You sound like I'm a baby instead of a grown man…" She kissed him again and he was silent once more.

"Anything interesting happen with you two?" she asked, hanging her coat up on the rack, looking out the living room window to see the girls starting target practice without her. "It seems you two got along today…" The green eyed woman looked back with a hopeful smile.

"Well yea… one of the better days I guess… what are… the girls doing over here?" he raised an eyebrow, trying to see out the window too.

"Don't worry, we'll be out back so we won't be able to disturb you," his wife laughed and shut the backyard door behind her. "If you think you can, you should join us! Though I doubt you can beat me!"

"Is that a challenge I hear!?" he struggled to get up and get outside as quickly as possible.

**Way to go Wu, it looks like you're the stupid one now, am I right? Hehe... it feels so weird not having twenty stories running at once... but I like it! This will probably be the very last update for 2014! **

**Oh my gosh can you believe it?! Anyways yea I know the whole deal with Chen now but I'm gonna keep this story running even though I kind of know more about what Garmadon's past is gonna look like so consider this a bit of an Universal Alternate or something...**

**I also am writing one that will coincide with the new season about the masters and the Serpentine Wars! Oh and the OC fics, it's going to follow Chen as being like in this story and not a long time buddy like how the show made it out. I also add stuff what with my own ninja kids... and those should be coming out very very soon!**

**So thank you so much for reading! And I promise longer chapters coming once more. I wanted to isolate this chapter and then I can go into a another arc with hella long chapters again like the three armies vs ninja arc... so yea, thanks and have a Happy New Year!**

**~Mar**


	63. In for a Ride

"Look at that… you can actually walk on it again," Misako watched as her husband leaned on it without looking like he was walking on burning coals. "Shame you have to wear it for a few more days still…" she tilted her head, still feeling bad about how broke it. She couldn't imagine how much it really hurt.

He nodded; "Yea well… better wearing it five weeks then for six months…" he took a seat again. He looked up at her. It had been almost another week since he had talked to Wu about Chen and the offer he had made. He wasn't completely comfortable still with going behind his own wife's back and going through with it all.

"Well I have to go in for a couple of hours today… okay?" she kissed his cheek and started walking out the door, "Oh… and I'll see if Namiko will be nearby… maybe we can get that thing off you today…" she shut the door behind her and he was left alone again.

The brunette sighed; Chen said they see each other again so when the hell was that going to be?

"Look at that… I caught you just when she left…"

The red eyed one internally groaned and looked back; maybe this wasn't going to be such a good idea. "You like sneaking up on people in their own homes; don't you?" he leaned on the armrest of the couch, trying to look like he wasn't startled by the sudden appearance.

"So have you decided? I have given more than enough time I think… so surely you have come to a conclusion…" Chen walked around. "What do you say?" he extended a hand. "Why not come with us for a while to escape your dull life as student of the Spinjitsu Master? Do what you want for change? I can teach many things about powers you possess…"

Garmadon for once had the little voice of reason speak to him and it was telling him that this would not end well and maybe it wouldn't knowing his awful luck, then again, he wasn't a very smart man anyways… "Okay then Chen… I will as soon as I'm better in a few days…" before he took his hand, "But only one condition… I'm not going to stay away from home for very long… not unless you want my wife to find out about this…"

"Oh fine, I don't expect you to anyways…" the other mumbled.

The two shook on it and Garmadon waited for him to leave for a good ten minutes before he grabbed his phone and dialed his brother's number. It felt like years before the younger picked up on the other end, "So..?"

"Yea he came and I said yes…" the older let out a sigh, still regretting agreeing to this... "I hope your little plan goes over well Wu or else you'll be the one we leave behind," he smirked even though Wu couldn't see it.

"Such a loving brother you are… I'll see you later. Kas is running the bar and watching the kids tonight because Namiko and the girls are hanging out for Ella's birthday so I told the guys to meet up there".

"Sounds good, I can get around on my own now… so I'll see you guys later…"

* * *

><p>The bar was practically empty when Garmadon got there, last naturally. The others were at the bar seats with Kai and Nya probably playing upstairs in what use to be Namiko's home above the bar. "Slow poke, showed up at last," Crevan chuckled before Garmadon shot him a look as he grabbed a stool to sit down at the end, he wasn't exactly in a joking mood right now.<p>

"So Wu told us…" Kasai pulled up a seat, almost excited to start talking about it, "Why do you think this random guy took an interest in just you of all people?" he leaned on his elbows, interested.

Garmadon tapped his fingers on the counter impatiently at the stupid question. "Why else do you think someone like him would want a guy like me in his ranks?" the others looked away from his glowing eyes that stared at them. "Yea that's what I thought," he grimaced at them all when they realized the obvious. Wu covered his face because even Kasai or Tanaka seemed to forget the obvious.

"We forget… sorry…" Anthony apologized for the others.

"Whatever… all I know is that you and Crevan are the only two who don't really know the landscape of the island at all being the four of us have only been there once…" Tanaka pointed to his older brother and Anthony. "In fact… we haven't even been there in… what, twenty years? Surely things must be different now… so basically we're all going in blind it seems…"

The five were all obviously nervous about their little secret mission they were trying to keep from the girls and even Masuta, they really didn't want to suffer the wrath of Misako and Rosie combined though because they were probably scarier than anything the Spinjitsu Master would do to them.

It was rather fun in a way because it was like two voices were in Garmadon's head, one was saying this was all stupid like earlier, but there was a different one at the same time, saying what a great opportunity this was to harness his powers and learn even more about his darker ones. He tried to shake off the thought but it seemed almost too good to pass up after all. Maybe he would just stall the plan for as long as it would take to actually learn something he was interested in that his father wouldn't dare show him.

"Okay so, I think we'll be hiding on the island most of the time and we'll just tell the girl's we're all going fishing and camping for a few weeks… sound good? Because I actually told Namiko that this morning…" Kasai looked around at the other men who nodded in agreement. "And Namiko called before you got here, she's gonna fix you right up so we can leave tomorrow morning… that is when Chen said to meet at the dock right?"

Garmadon nodded, "Yea… Sounds like a plan then…" The five split to return to their own homes.

* * *

><p>Wu tried be quiet in the early hours of the morning because of his father as he packed his bag and tried tiptoeing around the monastery, jumping at every squeaky floorboard. Masuta was already sitting on the deck since dawn and just caught his youngest son making his way out. "… why go fishing without a rod son?" he asked the blonde who stopped in his tracks when he was down the steps.<p>

He pretended to yawn, "Oh gosh, so tired I almost forgot it!" he lied, turning right back around and grabbed it, hurrying back out yet was stopped again by his father at the gates.

"…just be careful…" was all he seemed to say. Wu thought he saw the mysterious twinkle in the old master's eyes when he told him that. Did he know? How could he of? It wasn't like he let anything be revealed and Masuta said he couldn't really foresee much of anything anymore… His father continued to smile at him knowingly.

_"__Yea he probably knows something…" _Wu sighed to himself as he walked down the long flight of stairs that were carved into the mountain.

* * *

><p>The sun was barely up when Garmadon decided to drag himself out of bed, not like he slept much anyways when he started thinking about what could possibly happen on this trip. It felt strange walking on two feet like nothing had even happened to it as well. He looked back at his wife curled up on her side of the bed and kissed her temple before hurrying out.<p>

By the time he got downstairs the others were there. The plan was that he would go and meet them on his own with Wu and the guys trailing from afar and monitoring their activity as much as they could but like Tanaka had said, none of them knew what this Chen would have set up for them on the island.

There was a boat waiting at the dock and Garmadon stepped on even though there was no one else to greet him or otherwise say that this was Chen's boat. After stepping on, he didn't move, knowing something was a little… off. What he had of a sixth sense kicked in and he turned, moving back from an attack. He tossed his bag to the side and held his hands up at ready. He was tired when he got there, now he was fully awake, just about ready to kill this guy.

Someone in a mask was all he could make out. His hands emitted a black fog that he threw at the taller ninja. Garmadon obviously was over this little game since he almost was jumped and he ran forward, landing a punch in the other's neck that disabled him, knocking him back to the deck. "Well that wasn't a fair move…" the other choked out.

"Neither is sneaking up on me but hey, I thought your kind was about winning… or was Chen lying to me when he invited me here?" he picked up his bag again, folding his arms. "So who the hell are you that you felt the need to do that?"

The other stood up and removed the hood, "Oh you're an irritable one…" he looked Garmadon down, up, "Clouse… Chen's second in command," his hands emitted the black, purple looking fog again, showing if off a little. "And master of the dark arts…" he smirked. "And who the hell are you that Chen decided to invite? What made you so special?"

Garmadon rolled his eyes, "In case you can't tell you nasal congested fool, I'm the son of the Spinjitsu Master and I decided he can't teach me shit". He showed off his own ability, "And I can use shadow magic same as you so I wouldn't be feeling all too special…" he smirked when the other scowled at him.

"Very well, I knew it was you but it was decided I do a little test to how fast you can react and what kind of a fighter you are…"

"And so what have you concluded?"

"That you may try and rip my throat out if you get the chance…" Clouse had a deadpanned look on his face when he had said it. Garmadon shoved past him on purpose, pretty much slamming him into the wall of the cabin.

"You just met me and yet you know me so well…" he grumbled. At least he knew what kind of a guy Chen was and what kind of people he called his friends. From what he figured out, he was not exactly going to have a fantastic time as long as the Clouse guy was going to hang around him. He almost seemed jealous Chen picked up another guy like himself. "Now come on… I don't have all day to hang around on a dock…"

* * *

><p>Chen looked back at the time ninja who stood, waiting for a reply. "He's on board and we're on our way…" the radio said. "We will arrive in two hours…"<p>

Sigan smirked, "Well now Chen… I hope you have a fun time distracting the brat… I now plan on seizing a nice opportunity that has opened up before me by you accepting to do this," he held his hand behind his back as he walked on, ready to carry out yet another part of his quite elaborate scheme.

"Like you give anyone a choice…" Chen grumbled, "One day you will fall very hard time ninja…" he called after him as the doors shut. He looked at the servants, "Well… go on… make sure he finds his way out…"

**A little overdue I think for an update... I was a little it lazy with revising it I'll admit... and yea, Sigan's plan is elaborate... so many parts and phases oh my gosh man why are you like obsessed with Garmadon and making his life awful!? Seriously man... you like over complicating things too... sheesh...**

**Hehe... this story tots gonna be 100 chapters at this rate... I have plans... I have funny things with Garmadon and the guys in this arc of the story... and then Misako... oh my gosh... I'm giggling just reading what else I have written for the next chapters... To be honest, I was never going to make Sigan as big of a part as I have him in now... I like how his whole past isn't really explained so we can make it whatever we want...**

**Anyways, now I have more stuff to do! See you guys later! And thanks for reading!**

**~Mar**


	64. Ink and Lies

It didn't take very long for Garmadon to get use to everything surprisingly. Chen looked like he was a millionaire by the way he had his operation running. For some guy who lived on an island, he was doing really well; it made all the guys wonder what his secret was. It was hard to believe in twenty years, the island they came to when he met dragons was overtaken by this one man and his many servants and friends.

Chen, though not wanting to be a part of Sigan's plan, ended up enjoying kicking around the red eyed ninja just to see him get angry and Garmadon even knew that Clouse enjoyed every second of it because of that smug smirk he always had on his face. Garmadon found he had great willpower that he never knew he had just because he restrained himself not to slit any of their throats in the middle of the night he got so angry some days.

Now that he saw everything though, the others weren't so sure that they could actually get near the outer wall let alone right to the front gates. Chen was very thorough with security; anybody could easily get lost on the property and there were so many guards they were constantly moving or falling back from hour to hour. They just wanted Garmadon to keep up the charade.

It may have turned into a little more than a charade though…

Every one of Chen's followers and students had purple snake tattoos, meaning they were loyal to him as a member of his training ring. After a week or so Garmadon realized he probably wouldn't be trained much further unless he swore some kind of allegiance. And the fun part for him was that he didn't have anyone to tell him what to do or remind him of what the plan was, so when the question of allegiance turned up, no one could say no for him. Though he hated Chen for kicking him around, he really did learn far darker things than what his father would have shown him, so he pretty much jumped at the opportunity to go further into training.

He had gotten plenty of other tattoos in his life that his father probably had no idea about or his own brother even, one more was not going to make a difference because he wanted to be trained now because Chen taught something he practiced best with little to no effort; chaos and doing whatever it took to win.

That same night there weren't many guards on patrol and the older ninja and the others made plans to meet up and fill in on what they were doing. He didn't even think about how they would feel once they saw the purple snakes on his shoulder blades.

Garmadon tried to look over his shoulder at the fresh marks, glancing at his gi with a sigh. He really didn't want to have anything rubbing against it at the moment but he threw it on anyways just so Wu and the guys wouldn't tell him off for daring to get such a terrible thing done.

* * *

><p>"So what have you been up to…?" Wu asked, perched on a tree limb same as the others. "Haven't seen much of you… today especially… Training inside? Or are you just being the same lazy bum we all know and love?" he smiled a little with his snarky grin.<p>

The older brother chuckled and folded his arms, leaning against the tree trunk, "Well I bet you'd all love to know what I've been doing today now wouldn't you? Being you losers love to know what I'm doing with my personal life twenty four seven…"

"Uh… yes, of course we do," Anthony jumped down and folded his arms, "Do you think we can barge in or what? Have you noticed a pattern with Chen's routine? Any changes with guards or something? You've barely been telling us a thing for nearly two weeks! Just come out and tell us this guy's impossible already…"

Tanaka nodded, "He is right… these men gave your own parents a hard time and there is even recollections in historical texts saying about migrating tribes men that put curses on people… Chen and the others are descendants of them so I would be careful!" Garmadon could help but roll his eyes. "Have you at figured out _something_?"

The brunette waved his hand, annoyed with their questions, "Keep your shirt on, you don't think I've been looking into that?" Speaking of shirt he shrugged his left shoulder because of the irritated skin.

"NO!" The other five jumped down and circled him. "You may have been getting kicked around but Chen seemed rather chummy with you today… so what's going on? If we stay any longer than two… three weeks at the most then Misako is gonna find out _somehow _and beat our asses in!" Wu looked madder than he ever did before. "And why do you keep shrugging your should like something's irritating you?" he just noticed the subtle motions his older brother was trying to do discreetly.

The older brother backed up, "None of your business! I dislocated my arm early is all…" he shrugged again on the other side.

Crevan was standing behind him though and pulled the tunic down just past his should blades, "So… you finally turned on us!" the others ran to see the fresh marks in purple ink. "The others guys have these tattoos!"

"Dude… uncool…" Kasai shook his head. "You didn't think you'd at least tell us you were gonna do this!?" he peered around to see for himself closer. "Maybe I wanted to get one too-!" Anthony smacked the younger in the back of the head for such a stupid thing to say. Even though he was joking, this wasn't really the time for that.

"SHUT UP!" Garmadon looked back to the outline of the gate. "They'll hear you you idiots! And so what if I did? Not the first tattoo I have!"

"This one's different…" Tanaka quietly said. "This one means you swore allegiance… to a cult that's been harming people for centuries…"

Garmadon rolled his eyes yet again, "Yea so what? Maybe I don't mean it and I was willing to get that so he'll finally trust me more than he has! You're not the ones getting your ass beaten like I have this entire time!" he clenched his teeth, "Maybe one of you should take my place for a day… really step into my shoes and feel how I feel for once…"

"Why do you always make things about you!? Why do you overdramatize literally everything!? Come on… who's this really for?" Wu shook his head, "Are you just keeping a cover for us or are you really learning stuff and don't want to stop learning? What is he even teaching you!?" The younger brother looked really concerned now.

He shoved past the guys with an angry death glare, "I don't have time for this… I'm going to get in trouble same with you five!" he fixed his tunic and headed back for the compound where he was staying.

"He's learning some bad stuff isn't he?" Anthony and Kasai looked at one another.

Tanaka shook his head, "Oh without a doubt in my mind… the question is… do you think he's going to come back now? Or is there a slim chance he really is just faking…"

* * *

><p>Misako still wasn't use to living on her own for the past couple of weeks. She missed Garmadon but figured it was nice he was getting along with Wu and the guys, or at least that's what she believed. She put on her robe and walked downstairs to eat something before she got ready to head out for work.<p>

Floorboards creaked and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She looked around and frowned, something wasn't right to her. She reached in the cereal box and pulled how several kunai, holding them tight between her knuckles and found shurakins in her robe pocket being she always kept them there for what reason she never knew until right at that moment.

She kept silent now, trying to remember the layout of her whole house and where her hidden weapon may be. _"Okay… sword in the umbrella stand… chain sickle in the living room garbage can under crumpled up paper… kobutan in the right couch cushions…"_ She slipped her hand in the coffee filter box, _"And kakute rings in my coffee filters…" _she slipped two on her left index finger and the other over her wedding ring.

Rose and every other people she had worked with always told her how silly it was to have so many hidden weapons around the house for no reason. She had it like that though ever since she lost her daughter in the case someone would unknowing break into the home of a ninja.

She gripped the small dagger like weapons and looked at the knife rack, slowly walking, keeping silent. She stopped again and heard quickened footsteps and looked behind her. _"Scythe's in the downstairs bathroom…" _she felt herself start to sweat, not knowing what was going to happen or who would dare to invade upon a ninja's home.

"Surprise bitch."

Misako whipped around, swiping her left hand up, cutting gashes in black fabric and across flesh which of course spilled some blood on the kitchen floor she just mopped the night before. When she pulled back there was blood on her rings and hand as well and looked up as he pulled off the rest of the torn fabric around his face when she grabbed one of her sharper knives.

"Sigan…" she slid back on the tiled floor. "What the hell do you want now!? I don't have any gold weapons, and Garmadon's not here so you two can play". She slowly started stepping back. It would be hard because Sigan could still predict future moves, basically reading her mind. Her left hand wasn't the best at throwing and she still had yet to use her three kunai daggers in the right hand.

She had to think of several different things so he wouldn't know what she could do first. _"I'd do better with the scythe… but…" _she would have to go for a least obvious one. She quickly stepped past the couch, trying not to look at the trash bin and she flung her kunai then stabbed him in the left shoulder before grabbing the chain sickle to block his ninjato from cutting her. The small blade scrapped against the thick silver chain that held the sickles together.

The green eyed woman kicked him back and tossed off her robe to move around better. Her left hand gripped the chain, slowly spinning it around before whipping it around with precision, aiming for his scrawny neck. He rolled out of the way and tackled her, pinning the brunette to the ground. She strained her muscles, trying to move but he was leaning all of his weight on her. Blood dripped down his arm to stain her shirt and face as she glared up at him, breathing threw her clenched teeth.

"Now… about why I'm here…" he was nose to nose with her with his cocky grin.

* * *

><p>Garmadon shredded the hard wood dummy apart with his bare hands, wisps of black energy fading when he stood amongst wood shards and splinters. He looked back at Clouse who gave him a deep frown, almost jealous at him exceeding in the skill. He looked away with a scowl and Garmdon knew he finally got on the other's nerves, smirking wider if that was possible.<p>

"When you face an enemy… you do anything to win… you beat them down until they no longer can stand… breathe even… I know you come from the same school of thought Garmadon…" Chen looked to the brunette. "Clouse… fight him," he simply put as he pointed. The right hand man looked at Chen and then Garmadon, surprised he was asked to do such a thing. It was clear he wanted to argue the matter but he probably wouldn't get all that far.

He sighed and stepped forward; taking his outer, maroon robe off and Garmadon did the same. Garmadon cracked his knuckles, holding his usual cocky smirk. "What's wrong Clouse? Afraid I break that dumbass nose of yours?" he chuckled.

The other didn't look too amused by the insult as Garmadon or some of the other onlookers did and just took a stance. "Let's just get this over with you childish fool…" he mumbled. "Maybe I should teach you some manners for once in your pathetic life…"

One of Chen's servants rang a big gong and then the little fight started.

Nearby, peeking over one of the walls were five men, frowning at the behavior of their friend, especially his brother, "Look at him… he's right where he belongs isn't he?" he looked at the other four. Garmadon dodged a blast of dark energy and threw some back himself, laced with fire. "I hoped he was changing…" he looked sadder than anything right now. "None of you knew this but he was very peaceful when we were kids… he was never so violent like this…"

"Guess we weren't good enough for him…" Kasai spat. "I can't believe he tricked us into just sitting around and letting him have all the training…meanwhile everyday that goes by we're more in danger of Misako finding out…" he rested his chin on his folded arms.

"He really is good though… damn…" Anthony quietly whistled, seeing Garmadon throw around his opponent like he was nothing. "Think he'll show us some of those moves when he comes back?" He seemed very impressed.

All four sets of eyes stared at him and he realized what he just said. "He might not even come back at this rate!" Crevan hissed angrily, "And you're worrying about if he'll show you those moves he doing!?"

Wu tilted his head, surely his brother wouldn't stay here forever if he was going to ditch the team, he had to come back to Misako, he loved her so much and had to miss her even if it was a little bit. _"Heh… maybe he'll stay here forever and I can get Misako…" _it was a nice little daydream he had in his mind as he hid the smile he couldn't help but have.

Rustling came from behind and the five dropped to the solid ground once more, weapons ready to be drawn to face whatever enemy was coming at them. Though it was not an enemy that came through the foliage, it was their worst nightmare.

"WHERE'S THAT FRIGGIN, LYING BASTARD?!" her voice roared.

**I know I said I'd post this yesterday but I woke up with the flu and my head feels a little better, enough to finish revising and posting this. I always like to think the ninja would have weapons literally everywhere, like it was obsessive...**

**So thanks for reading. Hopefully I'll get back on track and post the next chapter on Monday like what the plan was :) See you later**

**~Mar**


	65. Busted

_"__What the hell are you talking about?" Misako scrunched her nose, hating being so close to her old enemy not mention, getting his blood all over her. "What do you mean about my husband doing something behind my back!?"_

_Sigan rolled his eyes, "It's nothing like that you little brat… I'm not talking about an affair with another woman… trust me he only wants you… for some odd reason…" she growled, "just that he's run off to train with dark magic conjurers and failed to tell you a thing". He smiled because he had all the cards. "Just like his little buddies…"_

_Misako angrily threw him off of her at last, "If you dare lie to me I'll hunt you down and kill you once and for all…" she jabbed a finger at him. _

_The Time ninja continued to laugh, shaking his head and leaning against her couch, "Okay… sure… I'll have you know the man named Chen is an old friend… ally… frenemy I guess we can call it… all I know is that's where your stupid boys went… Garmadon just wanted to train and so tricked his brother and the other four into thinking he would try and shut down the operations on the Dragon Isles being they're cultists who killed people and… well… Chen calls it Chen Island now but hey, call it what you want… he uses black magic and I'm pretty sure you can't so I would at least be a little scared…" _

_Misako continued to stare at him, not sure if he was really telling the truth for once in his filthy, soul sucking life, "I even have a map you can follow," he brandished a rolled up scroll. "You can take it if you believe me…" he gave an eerie grin. "Being you're the leader of your merry band of fools… you should know what your fellows are doing behind your back…"_

_Misako stared at the piece of parchment, a knot in her stomach. She wanted to believe that the boys didn't lie to her, let alone Garmadon really was pursuing such a dark art… then again it wasn't completely unlike him to do something like that… Maybe it wasn't a lie…_

_"__I must be completely out of my mind to do this…" she grabbed her phone, looking at the map._

* * *

><p>"MISAKO!" Kasai screamed and jumped in Crevan and Tanaka's arms, not wanting to die today. "Oh my gods why are you here?!" He pretty much squealed like a little girl.<p>

Rose, Namiko, and Ella also came out right after and the five backed up, afraid of what they were going to do to them because the jig was up. "Well… it's been three weeks and we figured out you ain't fishing! I had to leave the babies with the neighbors to drag your ass back home!" Namiko's calm brown eyes were now filled with rage as Kasai further tried to climb up Tanaka being he was far taller than his wife and assumed he would be safer.

Misako's emerald eyes shifted around angrily, "Well where is that bastard I married!?" she held her scythe out. "WELL?!"

All five pointed over the wall and she straightened up and marched up to the gate, konking a guard in the head and found Garmadon happily standing over Clouse who was pretty out of it. "Well I win," he laughed, picking up his tunic. "What was that about me losing!?"

"GARMADON!" That voice made him jump out of his skin when he saw who it was coming in. "You lied to me!" she had her scythe gripped in hand. "YOU LIED BIG TIME!" she wanted to smack him with it so badly but didn't… as of yet.

"Well now…" Chen looked the newcomer down up with a bit of a smile on his lips. "Who do we have here…" he rubbed his hands together. "She'd look pretty standing with my kabuki servants…" he chuckled.

"That's my wife in case you didn't recognize her… and don't you dare say something like that about her!" Garmadon snapped at Chen, turning around, forgetting that she was just threatening to basically rip him apart two seconds ago.

Then he thought; bad move turning around… "What the hell do you have on your back!?" he looked back, over his shoulder, remembering now. She marched over closer and glared up at him. "I trust you with my life and what happens!? Sigan breaks in and attacks me! Telling me you and the guys ran off to do some crazy ass shit here with a dark occult!? Garmadon, did you really think I wouldn't notice those new tattoos!?" she looked behind him at Chen. "You… you're the one that entice him with power and all that shit yea?!"

"I am," he didn't look phased by her anger. "I didn't know his mommy was still alive…" he seemed to tease her like she was nothing more than a harmless kitten, something of which she hated being reduced to.

"I'm his wife," she jabbed a finger at him, even more angered. "I should have the right mind to level this island and everything you have built here…" she gritted her teeth. "I am so close to doing it if you keep up the stupid sexist comments to me you pig."

Chen shook his head, "I'm sorry but what power do you think you have to do that?"

She hated that cocky attitude, even when her husband pulled it with the team, she could see why he decided to train here; they were a lot alike. She flashed the scythe that she carried and then the others realized what it was; it was the gold scythe. "I'm the ninja of earth so you open that snake mouth of yours again and I will level your island just like I told you…"

He seemed to just shrug, holding his hands up. "Well whatever you want…" he looked at Garmadon, "He was good… I'll give him that," he chuckled. Garmadon narrowed his eyes, "In all honesty he liked to test to my patience and was kind of hard to put up with…"

"The feeling's mutual," Garmadon glared before he turned his back on him. When he saw Misako was still standing with her feet planted he looked back, "I thought you wanted to leave…" he barked at his angry wife.

She silently turned on a heel and walked alongside him, back through the gates. "You're an idiot…" she didn't looked at him as she bluntly stated.

"I know…"

"The biggest idiot who will walk the earth…"

"I know…"

"Such an idiot… you will be sleeping on the couch until I say you can come back upstairs," she started walking faster and Garmadon slowed down a little bit. It looked like he really shot himself in the foot this time. He would have to make it up somehow and a kiss and apology probably wouldn't patch things up that quickly this time.

When they got farther away, they stood at the step of the dock where the boat was waiting for them. Garmadon looked at the scythe in her grip and looked back at the island, "Mind if I see that for a minute?" His wife stopped and looked up at him, raising an eyebrow. Everyone else looked a little confused as well but she handed it over anyways, not exactly knowing what he was planning on doing with it. "Chen kicked me around… I wanna return the favor…"

The red eyed ninja turned around and slammed the scythe's blade into the ground, a huge crack travelling out, into the island's center. A loud crumble was heard as something collapsed. "There… that should satisfy everyone… you all happy now I screwed some shit up for you?" He thrust the weapon back into his wife's hands and stepped on the boat first as she stared at him along with the others.

* * *

><p>"So why did you do all of this?" Hatsu frowned, leaning on the heel of her hand, looking at her sharp, dagger like nails, "What purpose was it for Garmadon to train with that guy for a little while and then you turn around and tell his wife what's going on so she could break it all up? Seems kind of dumb because we could have killed him on the island when he wasn't expecting it…"<p>

The time ninja chuckled, patting her cheek, "Because I want to watch him crumble on his own makes it more fun… and why not stir up distrust from the ninja team? Garmadon will feel that everyone is against him now, will he not? It had been for a short while and he may have turned around to at least destroy part of Chen's little base… but will he really be trusted at all anymore? It all can work against him…"

"Ooo…" she slowly nodded.

"That's right… now if I'm correct… in a couple of days… should be most fun for Ninjago City…" Sigan rubbed his hands together greedily. "Now… I must be off once more- wait… I just noticed… where did the Mask of Malice go?" he asked his girlish companion.

She looked up and frowned, "The stupid thing thinks he's too good for me so I told him to take a hike!" she pouted, looking away like a little girl would do.

Sigan groaned and pulled her up from her seat by her wings, "You go and find that thing right now! I can't afford any slip ups or something happening I did not plan for!"

Hatsu rolled her eyes and started walking, "Right, whatever you say _boss_!" she sassily said it as she stretched her black wings with a yawn. "Be back later then…" she left without another word.

**B-U-S-T-E-D you are BUSTED... I felt that was necessary, yes. Sooooooo... fun part comes next... and by fun part I mean making all my favorite little babies beaten and bloody ):L Maybe someone will die... but maybe no one will... and yea I promise you Lloyd will be here in like... what ten more chapters? IDEK anymore... **

**I think this new fan fic schedule is really working for me than willy nilly updates! :D Because I can work on several chapters for each story and Mondays, only this updates and I already have a lot of this story written so I just have to revise and then I can work on other stuff!**

**Thanks so much for reading! See you in Thursday's update :D **

**~Mar**


	66. News Flash

It was just as Sigan predicted, once everyone was home, nothing was all that normal for the ninja. Garmadon wasn't so much kicked out of his own bedroom like what Misako threatened him with but there seemed to be a high lack of trust going on with them with any little thing. The older ninja kept trying to say it was all a bluff but only part of him meant that and everyone knew it as much as he did.

He couldn't say he didn't enjoy beating the crap out of people, that part of fun and he had a lot more control over his shadow magic which was a good thing for the team anyways in hindsight, but there was always that little voice telling him that with his power, he could take over the whole world if he wanted to.

The other part kept trying to smile and doing anything to at least make Misako forgive him; he hated it when she was angry with him. Misako almost laughed at his silly little efforts, after a few days she teased him about it and pretending to ignore him even more.

Pretty much every morning he'd make her breakfast or whatever without her asking; he did the dishes before she could even get to look at the sink, every other day she'd find a new book or flowers, or something else for her and so on and so forth. Apparently she knew he was probably going to die from if she continued limited contact and conversation so she ended it the second week into his punishment.

"You sure…?"

"Yea I'm sure I'm over it…" she sighed, folding her arms, "But if I ever catch you doing something again… I'm getting a divorce…" she looked dead serious about it. May have been harsh but knew he wouldn't dare risk that one.

"In… all fairness I wasn't allowed to tell you and I wanted to tell Wu I was going to say no and to tell you about it and then he convinced me on the whole little scheme…" he tried to defend.

She sat back, shaking her head, "Okay sure but they guys told me about the tattoos and allegiance and all that… you willingly did those things… you may say that it was to keep cover but be honest with me… did you really have those intentions when you went in and did all of that?"

He was silent for a few moments before shaking his head, "Personally I don't think I'm doing so well as a good guy…"

"Please don't say that…" she looked at him, "You're different from every bad guy we've faced and do you really want to know why?" she held a hand over his chest, "You try to be good… and you have something they don't… love…"

"Way to pour on the sap Mimi…" he rolled his eyes and was met with a quick kiss. "But I liked that…" he pulled her onto his lap and kissed him again. "I can live with that…"

* * *

><p>Kasai and Wu laid on the couch, or, more or less flopped on it, too tired to continually chase Kai and Nya like what they wanted them to do so the brother and sister were running up and down the stairs, playing dragons and knights or something similar to that at least.<p>

"Sometimes… I'm happy I don't have kids or that I'm not married," Wu yawned, feeling like nodding off. "I wanna sleep right now but I need to get back home to my dad…"

Kasai nodded, "Yea… show yourself out…" he was more along in dozing off that the blonde. Whatever they were watching on the television snapped the two awake at the sudden "news flash" music.

_"__We bring you this special broadcast saying everyone in downtown Ninjago City should leave! Right now!" _

The best friends looked at each other and made a scramble for the phones to tell the others, suddenly not so tired anymore.

* * *

><p>Garmadon and his wife were happily occupied with their little make out session that was interrupted by the obnoxious phone ringing. Then the phone rang and he reached behind his head to answer it, checking the caller ID and groaning. "Hey Kas-" he grumpily answered.<p>

_"__Turn on the TV right now! I don't care what channel!"_ and then he hung up.

The red eyed man frowned and did as the other told him to do to find a news report. He and Misako sat up more, staring at the television.

A reporter had a terrified look on her face as she reported that the entire Ninjago City was being consumed by either ice or thick vines and plants and a very low level of water was starting to flow through the streets. "It's like the natural elements have taken over Ninjago City! Ninja! Where the hell are ya?!"

"It's always something isn't it?" Misako looked like she was dreading what was yet to come for them. "It's always something…" she continued to repeat as she grabbed her ninja gi and weapons, followed by Garmadon with an even grumpier expression.

* * *

><p>"Now remember… he may be taller and fast, but he steps before he throws a punch… his right leg may have been healed but the last time was more of a quick job so the bone might actually still be able to break easier… oh and he's horrible with his left hand but he normally has poison tipped spike rings on that hand so watch for that as well… he likes to take people by surprise with that one…"<p>

The three nodded at the words of their master and he started off in search of his enemy.

"I can't believe it…" Hatsu's red pink eyes widened, "You didn't have him train with Chen _just_ to build distrust… you got Chen to study Garmadon's fighting habits… damn it! Why didn't I think of that idea?!" she smacked a hand to her forehead.

The black haired evil ninja nodded, "What better way to study the enemy than actually study him instead of fighting him? Chen did a lovely job at gathering habits… this is where we set the next part into motion…" he looked at Delilah's book in his hands. "And this will be the next part…" he showed her. "I just need Tosho, Cardinsto, and Kappa and the Mizu to cause some chaos to take care of the other ninja and so it doesn't look like we're singling our dark hearted friend out…"

* * *

><p>"I'll handle 3rd street!" Garmadon ran in the other direction of his wife.<p>

She nodded, "I'll take Katana Plaza with Namiko! Tanaka and Crevan have 5th street!" she told him before he was too far off. "If there's one thing I hate, it's being dragged out of the blue like this…" It seemed even their team was in a bit of a scramble.

* * *

><p>Masuta could see something happening from the monastery up high on the mountain, and he knew it would not be very good. All he could do was watch and observe really, it wasn't like he could fight like his former students… "Something else moves at speed under all of this chaos though…" he shook his head. "And I want to know what the enemy dares to plan against us…"<p>

If there was one thing that was strange, it was the fact that all of this seemed to center around his eldest son for whatever reason that would be. Why would Sigan want Garmadon to go to Umibe? Why would he alert Misako, his enemy, of Garmadon's whereabouts with Chen? Something did not seem right at all. "Whatever this will cultivate… it will not be pretty…"

* * *

><p>Garmadon eventually ran into his younger brother along the way down the street. "So… vines…" he looked up at the strong plants wrapping around the buildings. "Cardinsto!?" It was the first thing that had come to his mind.<p>

"Who else?!" Wu shrugged. "Unless you know more nature wizards who have some sort of grudge against us!"

The older one shook his head as response and the two skidded to a halt at a dead end. Ella was there, fending herself off from strange thistle like monster that were made from the vines along with wooden serpents, "Yep… Cardinsto…" the two said in unison.

"Very clever to guess that boys…" the wizard came out, "I must say… it's been a long while hasn't? The last time I saw you two, you were merely children…"

"Yea and you still look like an old, hairy troll," Wu shouted back, holding up his sword.

Ella backed up by their side a little more, looking exhausted, "Yea… way to go boys… make the crazy guy who can control wood and plants angry…" she puffed. "Ya gonna actually help me or like… what!?"

The two brothers nodded and charged on ahead. _"His right leg may have been healed but the last time was more of a quick job so the bone might actually still be able to break…" _Cardinsto looked down at the taller's right leg.

* * *

><p>Misako had found Namiko but strangely enough, not much was going on there… as of yet…<p>

"Do you hear rumbling?" Namiko stopped in her tracks and straightened up. Water was slowly running down the sides of the streets but the two women looked farther ahead to see a river come down. "Oh gods…" she gaped, starting to run the other way. "WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH THIS CITY BEING TARGETED?!"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Misako cried. "TRUST ME I HAT ELIVING HERE TOO!"

"GUYS!" Rose shouted from a three story building. She lowered herself quickly and grabbed the two. "That slimy, siren witch is back and she brought her whole family with her…" Rose pointed out to show the faint figures of the water creatures amongst the waves.

"Just how are we going to take them out?" Namiko sat on the roof of the building, "You guys know I can't swim…"

"Guess now's the best time to learn!" Misako shook her head and jumped right in to the gushing river that used to be the street. Rose joined right away as well, leaving Namiko to debate whether she could drown or not if she jumped in to join them.

"Well I'm doomed either way…" Namiko held a hand to her face and slowly tried to ease her way in, though after she got her first foot in, she was swept away, flailing and trying to get her head bobbing above the water. "BAD IDEA!" she cough dirty water out of her mouth and tried to paddle her arms. "I HATE THIS JOB!" she screamed as he head kept bobbing in and out of the freezing water. "KAS! HELP ME!"

* * *

><p>Garmadon seemed to be the main attraction for Cardinsto's strange little plant monsters until Wu and Ella caught on, he was going after his leg that was broken for some reason. "Garmadin he's after your right leg I think…" Ella shouted to the other ninja.<p>

The brunette found it to be so right when he seemed to trip on a tree root that was not there two seconds ago. The little wooden snake sunk their splintered fangs into it. Wu finally gave up and threw himself onto Cardinsto, tackling him to the ground. "THAT IS IT! I'm gonna lock you for good! How the hell do you and the other creeps keep breaking out!?"

The snakes turned back into the regular branches and Ella trotted over to assess if Garmadon was really that badly hurt again. "Well they bit through the boots a little…" she frowned. "If you can stand then good," she helped him up. Sadly, he couldn't walk completely on it like moments before. "Okay they may have bit and damaged a tendon or something… come on… we'll seat you down somewhere out of harm's way…"

"The street Misako, Namiko, and Rosie were on just got flooded. Tanaka and Crevan finally found their way to the other three.

Garmadon wasn't having any of that, "Hell no, let me up!" he snapped off at Ella. "We gotta go and get them!" she shoved him down again, "She's my wife Ella!"

"You sit down right now," Ella yelled back at him louder, "If they tore a tendon then you're useless in a fight and what good are you if you're dead?!" She looked back at the other boys, "Go and find them, I'll hand the big guy…" she patted Garmadon on the back, shaking her head with a sigh.

**Couldn't think of a better title... meh... poor Garmadon am I right? Though it must have been entertaining to watch him try so hard for a week to get on her good side again... I love those two loser oh my gosh...**

**And poor Nami can't swim still... right now no one's gonna die... ****_for now_****... I cannot promise you a thing my dears and you should know that about me by now :) **

**Thanks for reading! More fun in the next chapter on Monday I promise ;) **

**~Mar**


	67. Always Something

"You are crazy…" Namiko was on her hands and knees, same with the other two when the water finally drained out. She threw up once or twice because of all the water she had swallowed. "Completely mad women…" she continued to wheeze, coughing more water out.

"Yea… we are… but now we have to fight them," Rose looked up and glared at Kappa and the several other creatures with her. With a sword in hand she walked right over to the Mizu who didn't have steel weapons like her. "How about you scram and we don't have to slice your gills open you damn fish!?"

"HIYA!" Several more figures swooped in and knocked the small group of amphibious monsters over. "Have no fear ladies! We men are here to save the day!" Kasai and Wu held their swords up together, dramatically like the children they were in their heads.

Misako and Rose weren't having any of that though, "I was handling things just fine you bozos!" Rose shouted at the two, "And how dare you think you can save me!? I can beat both of your asses to the moon and back if I felt like it!"

The two had scared looks on their faces as they dropped their swords at her feet. "Sorry… we're sorry…" Kasai and Wu fell to their knees, afraid that she meant what she said. "Forgive us! Please don't hurt us!"

The darker skinned woman rolled her brown eyes, "Yea yea... you're forgiven oh mighty jesters of the court…" she looked back at Crevan and Tanaka, "So… where's Ella and Garmadon? Or they not coming to the party?"

"Faced Cardinsto and well… knowing you're husband's luck Misako, he uh… may have injured some tendons on his right leg…" Crevan scratched behind his head with an uneasy laugh, though it wasn't anything to laugh at.

Misako just held her hands to her face, not believing he received yet _another _injury. It was kind of getting old for all of them, "Yea… okay, where's Anthony?" she waved off, trying to focus on the getting the job done, she could deal with Garmadon later maybe.

Tanaka thumbed behind him, "Another group of Mizu on the other side of the town… I was probably going to go over there once we made sure you girls were okay…"

"Then you do that, I'll… I guess I'll just find Garmadon and drag his sorry ass back home where he won't get hurt again…" Misako looked to the others who nodded and they split their separate ways.

Kasai had picked up his wife who wasn't looking too good. She was drenched, shivering, and pale from her great swimming ordeal. "Come on honey, you'll be just fine," he smiled, letting her down gently so she could try and walk again. "Walk it off… you'll feel better in a little bit…"

* * *

><p>The woman with the glasses found just who she was looking for and smiled seeing they were okay without anyone else to have their backs, "Thank you so much for looking after him Ella," she hugged the black haired girl, "The others are looking for Anthony and I think our job here is done…" she looked down at Garmadon and ruffled his dark hair.<p>

Ella looked around and started shivering, "Hey… I don't remember ice being here…" she whispered to the other female ninja, discreetly pointing to the small build up on the ground around them. The other two cautiously looked around as well. "We're… not alone I think…"

Immediately the two women were shot in the back by some cold. The green eyed brunette shook her head, not even needing to see who it was to know as she went to grab her glasses that fell of when she hit the ground, "Tosho… he's back…" she tried to get up but was shot down again. It looked like there was no help for them this time.

"Looks like my job will be easy today… pick off the stragglers…" the ancient ice warrior laughed in his cold, hollow voice. It still haunted Misako just remembering what it was like to see Tanaka nearly frozen to death.

The red eyed, injured ninja looked at his wife and friend, slowly getting to his feet. Tosho looked at him curiously as he struggled to stand on his right leg. "Well… looks like I'm limping on this one again…" he grumbled to himself, slowly taking steps forward.

"GARMADON!" Misako growled, seeing him half limp past her on the ground with his sword in hand. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" he continued to ignore her and Ella was passed out completely now. "YOU CAN'T TAKE HIM! YOU'RE INJURED!" She felt her eyes welling up, looking at the small bloodstains on the fabric around his foot and ankle.

He looked back at her angrily, "You're hurt… you can't get up and Ella's out… and it's my job to protect you…" he looked back at the ice warrior; "I really hoped I wouldn't have to see you again after that terrible vacation to Yosho Island…" he glared, igniting his sword with his own inner element.

"So this will be how the cursed one falls? By limping around like dog to his death? Pathetic…" the faceless monster laughed.

It wasn't like Garmadon could charge at him; even though he controlled fire, Tosho was still like a never ending source of cold that the ninja's flames couldn't melt. It had been so long since he had to deal with a problem like this and now he was on his own completely.

Misako wanted to get up but she couldn't get off the ground let alone lift her head. "I'm the leader…" she cried, trying not to black out. "I protect you… and everyone else on the team…"

_"__I'll die protecting her…"_ he thought to himself. He didn't want to die, but that's what he promised to her when they got married. They were not just married though; they were team mates, partners… best friends. They completed each other like no two people could, or that was at least what he himself believed. "If I die… know I'm, sorry for going behind your back with the whole Chen thing…" he sighed, not even looking back at her.

"You're already forgiven about that! Just help me up you bastard!" her right hand reached out to grab her scythe handle.

He couldn't find the strength to lift his arms though to block the ice sword that was aimed to, and landed, slicing down across the torso. Tosho grabbed his arm and twisted it, kneed him and kicked him to the ground; Misako heard the crack and raised her scythe blade.

"Don't you dare touch my husband you frozen bastard!" she shouted at him, finding strength to sit up on her knees and slammed the massive blade into the ground. "Go back to whatever hell you came from!" And that was just what seemed to happen. If there was one other thing that no one could argue, she had a very high pain tolerance.

After that was said and done she crawled over and did an overview of everything. Broken arm, possible fatal wound if it kept bleeding… "TANAKA!" she shouted. "KAS! ROSE! ANYBODY!" she looked around, scared. "NAMI!" She took off her scarf and held it over the injury, cursing under her breath the whole time.

First came Namiko and Kasai, then Rose, followed by Wu and Anthony, and then the Fugiyoka brothers. "Oh gosh!" the younger, brown haired woman covered her mouth, "How the hell did he make it up to fight!? I thought he couldn't stand!"

"I don't know but Nami… come on… help me…" Misako's voice was hoarse, still feeling weak herself.

"He broke bones… he needs to go to the hospital to have everything set right…" she sighed and looked around. "Come on… you and Ella are hurt too…" she gestured to Misako's own wounds which just didn't matter to her now. Rose helped Misako to her feet and Tanaka carried Ella and Anthony and Crevan handled Garmadon.

* * *

><p>Everything was in a mad rush as she was in a daze for over an hour as she wondered the fate of Garmadon while a nurse treated her wounds. Ella she knew would be fine and she woke up not long after she was brought in and warmed up more; apparently she didn't work well with cold. At last she was permitted to get up and go find wherever her husband was. The others were in there already; even Masuta came all the way down as soon as Wu called him upon arrival. "What… is?"<p>

"He's alive…" Wu nodded. She hugged the blonde tightly, grateful for the sort of good news. "Lost a lot of blood…"

"And?" she panted, still shaken up just by watching while Wu still held onto her tightly.

"Coma… who knows for how long… when Tosho kicked him down, his head hit the pavement a little too hard… he was bleeding a bit from there too…" Wu scratched behind his head. "Broken arm… a cracked rib or two and they clotted that nasty cut up the chest so that's alright… oh and the tendons on his right foot… well, they can heal with some time…" he let go of her and looked her up and down, "What about you?"

"I… I'm fine…" she shook her head. "Please don't worry about me…" she was still staring at her husband even as Rose handed her the scarf the hospital washed out, there was still faint bloodstains on it.

Wu nodded, "But… you may be physically alright… but I'm talking up here…" he tapped the side of his head. "You still seem terrified…" he grasped her shoulder, looking genuinely worried for her mental state right now.

"Trust me I'll be fine…" she insisted, trying to sound like she was calm but she knew she was even lying to herself. She glanced at her father-in-law who looked at her like she was an open book.

"You don't need to lie to us Misako… we know that you're scared…" the old man quietly told her.

Misako just nodded, not knowing what else to say to that, but he was right, she was a very scared woman right now as she stood in such an awful situation. They were all lucky no one else got beaten up that badly. "So… what now?" she wiped her eye, wanting to talk about something else besides her.

"They obviously have to keep him here to run vitals and keep him going on life support until he wakes up so far… no one can possibly know… maybe a few days at best…" Namiko explained. "Right now there isn't a whole lot of brain activity but that can change by tomorrow…"

"Yea and there isn't much activity when he's awake either…" Kas whispered to Rose and Ella who glared at him, mad he was cracking a joke at a time like this, in front of Misako and Wu no less.

"Just pray that it'll be soon… and we'll all hope for the best," Namiko sighed and hugged Misako before they decided to leave her alone in the room.

Masuta looked back at Wu before glancing at Misako, "You're welcome to stay with us until he wakes up…" he offered. "You shouldn't be left alone when you're like this…"

"Thanks Masuta…" her voice cracked again and she looked away quickly. Half of her wanted to stay with them for a little but the other half just wanted to stay home where she didn't have to see anybody.

Wu was the last to leave the room, "Just remember that we're here for you…" he hesitated but kissed her on her cheek quickly, a little too close to the mouth for her but he ran out so fast she decided not to question him. She was actually too tired to even care he did that. She just cared he tried to be there for her like he always did.

But pray? What did praying ever do for her? It never changed anything so why would it now? "First my parents… then my son and daughter…" she looked up, "Are you guys gonna take him away from me too!?" she walked closer and touched his pale face. "You just couldn't stay down… you had to be the hero… you always have to be the stupid ass hero and look where it's gotten you this time…" she sniffed. "You want to protect me… but imagine how heartbroken I'd be if you died doing it!" she clenched her teeth.

It was silent for a while, maybe she was hoping it'd be like one of those movies where the wife would cry and rant and then _surprise _her husband would wake up, say something snarky that made her gasp and they'd kiss and the end credits would roll.

It wasn't a movie though; it was the incredibly and coincidentally painful reality of her life.

"I wouldn't worry too much about him…" a nurse came in after a while to check on things. She looked a little older than Misako was with a few strands of gray hair. "It's not like it was a serious head trauma…just a bit of a hard fall… he may be out for a week like what your friend said…" she looked down. "I'm sorry… I saw it on the news… you're one of the ninja yea?"

Misako nodded. "My husband too…" she gestured to him. "He's has such a pathetic ego… that's what got him in this position ya know…"

"Ah… that type of guy yea?"

Misako almost smiled, glancing down at the wedding ring that was still on his finger even after she slipped the glove off, "He's my guy though…" she sighed and turned to leave. "Been together since before we can remember…" she said that part more to herself.

Not long after Misako had left the room not knowing what else she would do but watch him and pretend he could hear her talking. The nurse smirked and took the mask off, her black and gray streaked hair falling down her shoulders. It floating beside her and turning back to his true looking self. "What now Hatsu?" Malice asked.

"We tell Sigan that Cardinsto, the Mizu, and Tosho did their part of the job whether they knew it or not… and who cares if they took the fall and they're in prison?" she chuckled. "Kappa… come on… you did well…" she looked behind the curtain at the half amphibian woman listening in as well. "Do you have the book?" she asked.

"Naturally!" Kappa smiled, pulling out the object. "Sigan said he finished everything that had to be done… shame I had to rope my own cousins into such a plan…"

The dark haired woman grinned, "Who cares, we did the job… now we must leave that for her to find soon… I gave him a sleep potion that I made from the serpent's teeth that'll keep him under for a while… he probably would have woken up in a few days if I didn't but then again… he wouldn't have time to heal his silly wounds at all… and when Masuta's son wakes up… it will only get more fun…"

"You sure now this is gonna work?" the other woman raised a scaly brow.

Hatsu nodded before caressing their unconscious foe's cheek, "Oh yes… I think what Sigan has planned will happen to the letter… he has predicted it so far and… he is the Time Ninja after all…" she chuckled and the two left the hospital room.

**Now I shall torture Misako a bit :3 I couldn't wait to post this one for some odd reason... not much to talk about here... oh yea, and I'm still sort of working on a different back story about the Serpentine Wars that will be more like what season 4 has told us about it... this story will always be my baby though XD **

**Anyways, since I'm almost totally better I started school this week so I promise I'm going to keep up with my fan fics as best I can! :D I'll just end up writing most on the weekends (one reason why I keep weekends free of most updates except for the Master Quest)**

**But I'll see you here next Thursday where you can see what's gonna go down ;) Thanks for reading! **

**~Mar**


	68. Blue

Misako pittered around the house for a week; nothing seemed to be going on with Garmadon when she went in to see him which was nothing new at this point. Another week and yet again; still nothing. She was so scared it made her sick to her stomach just thinking about him never waking up.

"Mimi… I don't know about you… but… I'm sure Garmadon will pull through… doesn't he always?" Misako shrugged listlessly at everything Rose was telling her. "Trust me honey, nothing can kill that man you seriously need to start believing it… I mean, how much more proof do you need? You've known him since you were babies!" she looked over and shook her head. "In my opinion, you should take Wu and Masuta's offer to go stay with them… maybe it'll be… I don't know… healthier for you than sitting alone day in and day out?" she shrugged again.

Every other day the older, darker skinned woman would visit just to check up on her depressed friend. Today though, she noticed something new on the side table in the living room. "Misako… why do you have a pregnancy test?"

Suddenly, the woman with the glasses snapped to life and snatched it. "None of your business!" Rose folded her arms and raised an eyebrow; _like_ _that excuse would be acceptable to her_. "I… I was thinking… maybe I was… maybe one time I could be…" she tried to speak.

"Then do it… why… how long have you had this?!" Rose frowned, looking at the receipt for the day she purchased it.

Misako took that away too, "Only about a week… I'm scared what it will say… okay?"

"I was scared too and when I told Lou we were having a baby… well for one thing he was out for a good hour but that's not the point… I was scared too… but to know for sure, you'll have to do it… now go into the bathroom and do it!"

"Not gonna leave until I do it huh?" Misako side glanced. Rose shook her head defiantly. "Fine…" she got up and went in.

It was the longest minute and a half of her life. She didn't know what she wanted it to be. Negative and she knew her feeling like crap was all from grief and there was a zero chance she could have a baby now. If it was positive, well okay, but what if Garmadon did die? There were too many different ways this could possibly go.

"Sooooo?" Rose peeped over her friend's shoulder to see what would come up when she was allowed to enter the bathroom. Finally it beeped and they looked; Misako opening one eye to look and practically collapsed to the floor, but Rose caught her in time. "Oh my gods…" she gaped "Oh my gods…" It was all Rose was able to say apparently as she held Misako up who was holding her hands to her face.

"I don't believe this…" Misako was trying not to cry and was actually feeling more like passing out herself. "I don't freaking believe this!" she looked up, pretty much screaming it to nothing. She felt a mix of emotions. "And I can't even tell him because he's out cold!" she sat on the floor and held her hands to her face once more.

"How many months do you think you are then?" Rose ignored the comment and asked.

The other sat back against the tiled wall and shrugged. "I… I don't know maybe… a little bit over two?" she shook her head, trying to think. She quickly turned to hug Rose who patted her gently.

"There there honey…" the black haired woman tried to console her. "Just watch… he'll wake up soon and everything will turn out fine… you'll see… you two been through thick and thin so why wouldn't he wake up for you?"

* * *

><p>Wu frowned, seeing his father looked suddenly agitated. "Is… is something wrong father? Are you okay?"<p>

Masuta looked in Wu's direction and quickly nodded, "Yes son… I am…" he swallowed. "I have a feeling Misako just received some interesting news…"

The younger son looked surprised. He didn't know his father still had visions or much of any sixth sense nowadays from the way he talked. He went to the phone though and dialed Misako's phone number anyways because he was meaning to call and just see if she was alright.

* * *

><p>Rose looked at the caller ID. "Wu…" she passed it to Misako who answered it.<p>

"Hey…" she tiredly said now back on her couch.

"Hey… just wanted to see if you were alright today…" Wu looked down as he talked, "I hope you are…"

"Yea, Rosie's here with me now…" she wiped her eye and glanced over at her friend who came to sit down as well. "You uh… I know he's still out but been in to see him at all?

Wu sighed quietly, he really felt bad for her, "Yea, yesterday actually I went with Namiko before she went home… but another thing… before I called my dad uh… anything… going on with you? You okay still?" he hesitated in asking, wondering just what his father may have been talking about before.

Misako looked a bit surprised that he called to ask her such a thing. She might as well be honest with him. "Yea Wu… something did happen…" she trailed off for a moment. "I… I just found out I'm pregnant…" she sniffed. Wu was silent on the other end for a minute. "Wu?" she blinked when no response came.

"Congrats… hope Garmadon wakes up soon to find he's gonna be a dad… I'll try and come by later… only if you want…"

"Yea, that'd be nice… okay… Bye…" she sighed and hung up. When she shifted in her seat, she felt something wedged between the cushions that wasn't there before. Rose scooted over they pulled it out. "It's… the book… his mother's book…" She stared with wide green eyes. "I…it… how did it suddenly just end up here!?" she forgot about worrying over Garmadon and the fact she was having a baby momentarily.

Both exchanged glances, "Don't question it! Just roll with it!" Rose shouted. Misako nodded, she supposed her friend was right and she opened it to make sure it was the same on the inside. After the first few chapters she skimmed, it really was the real thing. She breathed in relief because it had been gone for so long and closed it.

"I can't wait to tell him everything…" she closed it, hugging the book to her chest. "I hope he wakes up soon…" she closed her eyes.

* * *

><p>Another week and a half and Misako went to the intensive care every day after work and stay for sometimes hours until someone had to shoo her away long after visiting hours were over just because she didn't know what else to do anymore with herself, every day that went by made her more and more afraid.<p>

"I can't believe you've been out for more than three weeks…" she sighed. "Wu and Rose have been helping with everything though while you're here… hopefully getting better," she sat on the edge of the bed. "There are so many things I want you to know… for one I found your mother's book a few weeks ago… I don't know how it just suddenly appeared… but I found it… and when you're home I'll read it to you again…" she held a hand to her stomach. "I'm also almost nine weeks pregnant…" she went to hold his limp hand. "I know you can't hear me but I hope you'll be happy… I don't know what I want it to be… but I want to see you smile again knowing we're having another one after all this time… just like you wanted…"

She kept talking while holding his limp hand. She thought she felt it close a little more but ignored it. It held tighter as she went on and she stopped talking finally, and looked at it. "… Garmadon?" she slowly asked, looking at their hands.

"Five more minutes…" he mumbled, turning his head away.

Misako clapped her free hand over her mouth. "Oh… I… you're awake…!"

He opened one eye and looked around before jumping up from his pillow, "Where the hell am I!?" he looked around, startled. "What the…" he looked at the cast on his arm and held a hand to the back of his head. "What happened!? Did I win!? What does the other guy look like!?" he babbled; then felt the soreness of what happened.

She hit the side of his head, "Tosho nearly killed you!" she shouted at him angrily. "Never do that ever again!" she had tears in her eyes. "I was terrified you would never wake up!" she started crying full on now, covering her face and shaking.

He rubbed the spot she hit because it still hurt, then noticed the other bandages. "I cracked some ribs didn't I…" he started feeling the soreness take over his whole body even though he was healed for the most part. "So this is what it's like to have your everything hurt…" he held one arm around himself, trying to breathe, feeling it hurt every time he sucked in. She nodded, sniffling still. "I'm so sorry for scaring you…" he looked up at her again and kissed her forehead when she looked up too. "I'll be fine though… I promise…" he still looked tired.

She lowered her hands from her face stared at him. "What?" he half laughed, feeling his grogginess wear away totally now. "You look like you've seen a ghost Mimi-"

"Your eyes are blue…" she cut him off quickly. He stared back at her, barely understanding what that could possibly mean. She fumbled to look for a mirror and found a pocket one in her purse. "Look right now… it can't just be me…"

He took it and went to see what she was going on about to find she was right. "I… what does that mean!?" it was strange looking at himself with different colored eyes after over thirty years.

She just shook her head for a minute. What did it mean? Was he going to be okay now? Was he no longer cursed? "Maybe… it means the venom is no longer in your blood…" she whispered. He looked at her. "Maybe you lost so much blood this time that… it carried the venom out with it…"

"I… can be good?" he whispered.

"I think so Garmadon…" she nodded with a smile. "I think that's right honey…"

They rested their foreheads against one another. She lifted her head and kissed him like how she wanted to the past three weeks. When they parted for air she was crying more now, "I'm nine weeks pregnant…" he fit their mouths together again right after she said it, lifting one hand to caress her face then slip through her messy hair, pressing their tongues together, drawing out their kiss because of their longing for one another. "You're mouth is dry…" she commented before she kissed his nose.

"Being asleep for almost a month will do that…" he closed his eyes, "Are you sure you're pregnant though?" he asked. "I… I don't want to be disappointed…" he gingerly held a hand over her stomach, feeling hopeful for once in a long time.

"Believe me I'm carrying your baby sweetie…" she smiled, nuzzling closer. "I promise you that…"

His good hand slid around her waist more, resting on her hip. "I love you damn much…" he kissed her repeatedly. "You're the most incredible woman ever…" She pressed her cheek against his and felt it was wet. Misako looked back and smiled because he was happy too now. It was a rare sight to see him crying.

"I love you too you idiotic, egotistical numbskull…" she hugged him tightly but was careful to not do it too hard so she wouldn't hurt him all over again. "I… I love you…" she hiccupped, feeling his hand slide around to her back in a tight hug.

**That's right people! I just did that! I was cliche ****again****! I have waited forever to post this chapter! TBH I had this one written since November... hehehehe... yea... Gosh I love writing this story... even if it totally goes against a lot of the new canon hehehe... yea...**

**Okay well, thanks so much for reading!**

**~Mar**


	69. Crimson

After another week in the rehab, they let him go home after getting use to walking and eating again, being out for a month will do that to you. He still had to have the arm cast for another week which was the only pain in the neck for him let alone continuing to keep just an ankle brace on because of what Cardinsto's snakes did to it… also there was the pain in his chest when he breathed but he didn't complain once about it if he could help it.

Misako took work home just to watch over him and be right there with him, she'd get time off eventually just because she was pregnant now. "You don't have to stay home all day you know…" he told her as she leaned on his side, looking over papers she had to review and drop back off to the museum. She loved how he was more at peace than he had ever been despite still dealing with back to back injuries.

What wasn't great?

He was alive and healing with the help of Namiko (again), they were expecting a baby, and the best part of them all, Garmadon wasn't always plagued by dark thoughts and was actually being nice whenever Wu would come over and just nicer in general to everyone.

"I want to though…" she smiled and kissed his cheek. "I know you're a lot better but hey, I'm going on leave anyways soon so what does it matter really?" she went back to reading.

He shrugged one shoulder and looked at her stomach that was barely noticeable under her baggy nightshirt, "I'm the one that's supposed to be taking care of you though…" he held a hand to the side of her stomach and she set the papers on the nightstand and let out a breath, taking hold of his hand. "Come on… please? You always take care of me…"

"Garmadon please, it's okay…" she smiled a little. "I'm totally capable of taking care of you another week or however long it takes to heal," she made herself more comfortable against him, not giving in.

"I just feel bad for Namiko… why does she always like to volunteer to help instead of letting people heal on their own? Doesn't she get tired more or something?" he frowned, thinking about it. "Plus you said while I was out she started training as a nurse and keeping the bar open".

"She's just a kind person… you know ever since that awful battle where her father died she doesn't to take chances with _any _of us… and boy, it seems like you don't know what to do with yourself now that you have your mind back in control…" she smiled.

"All I think about is you like I always have…" he snuggled her close, kissing the top of her head. "When are you going to find out if it's a boy or a girl?" he almost looked excited. "Not that it matters… I… I just wanna know being… we technically had one of each already…"

His wife hugged him back tightly, giggling a little, "When I'm almost at four months, then you'll be able know".

* * *

><p>"Sigan, Garmadon is <em>good<em>," Kappa growled with her jagged teeth clenched, "I thought we had a plan! THIS WASN'T IN THE PLAN!" She raised her voice, looking more alarmed as she thought things were going bad.

The time ninja laughed though at her silly temper and turned to look at the water monster, "Kappa… I know this… I have also accounted for it… don't I always?" he then looked at Hatsu who was coming back in their little hideaway. "Well?" he raised an eyebrow.

The woman with the gray streaked hair in black smirked back at him, "Yea she's pregnant… old man ain't doing so well either…" she hung her weapons on the rack they had. "Just let us know when you want to move on to the next part because the clock may be ticking faster than you think, I figure he only has about a couple days left in him anyways… maybe less than that".

"Why not take advantage of it all right now?" Sigan shrugged. "I have nothing better to do… and I know a nice and strange way I can get our cursed one back on the track I laid out for him… you do know how I like to torture the little bitch he calls a wife…"

* * *

><p>It was the middle of the night when the phone was ringing. Garmadon turned on his side and grabbed the phone with his good hand and picked up, "Hello?" he tiredly asked. "Wu?" he half expected it to be him. His younger brother was all calling and seeing if they were okay but it was a little unusual for the middle of the night.<p>

Misako turned to face him and yawned, "What's up?" she buried herself under the blankets more. "What does he want?" she saw he hung up the phone and tried to get out of bed.

"He says I should be up there and that's really important… that was all though" he sighed, finally getting himself on his feet. She went to get up too, "Misako come on, just stay and bed and sleep…" he tried to get her to stay down but she wasn't having it at all.

She got up anyways despite his small efforts, "I can't sleep knowing there's something wrong and besides, you still can't drive right now… ankle?" she looked at him before grabbing her coat and not wanting to waste time changing.

* * *

><p>Once up there they couple found everyone else there as well, Kasai and Namiko, Rose, Ella, Crevan and Tanaka, and even Anthony, the entire team since the Serpentine War, all half in pajamas or totally in them depending on how far away they lived it seemed. They blinked at the sight of them because they all looked very upset. "Well this is the saddest slumber party I've ever been to…" Garmadon quietly said under his breath.<p>

Wu came out and the others rushed around him, "Is he okay Wu!? What's going on?" They all kept asking the younger brother, leaving Garmadon and Misako confused as they silently watched the frenzy their friends were in. It seemed everyone but they knew what was going on. Misako held a hand over her stomach feeling the baby move just a little, something it didn't do at all being she was three months along. She knew what was wrong. It was Masuta.

The blonde waited for them to stop asking questions before finally talking, "He's not dead yet… but he might as well be…" he shook his head. Misako ran over to the younger and hugged him tightly, feeling sorry for him; he was the one that was closest to him after all. He hugged her right back. "Come on…" he quietly told them.

They never saw the old Spinjitsu Master simply lying down on his death bed let alone seeing the day that he would on one. Garmadon actually imagined his dad going down in a fight against some villain, not this. They never once saw him so weak and quiet. He was always upright, calm, and mysterious to the young men and women that knew him so very well.

Everyone stepped aside and let Garmadon, Wu, and Misako get closer being they knew him longer than anyone there knew. "Father… Garmadon and Misako are here too now…" Wu didn't let his voice crack. "What was it you wanted to say to them?"

The couple looked confused when they heard that. "Yes…" their father quietly said. "Do not let your guard down ever… do not let your anger get the better of you," he looked to his older son, "If you do… then you will be lost forever…"

He then pointed to Misako, "The baby you carry is special… I can promise you that…" It left the two more confused, the Spinjitsu Master had known the venom was gone from his blood, he was going to be just fine. "I was proud to teach you all in the ways of Spinjitsu… now make sure it will never die out…" he told Wu. "It's time for the students to become the masters I think and it will be your job to lead the charge Wu".

"Me? Garmadon's older… he's better than I am…" Wu lowered his head. "Why are you telling me to carrying it on instead of him?"

"I saw one last thing before I collapsed earlier…" he started. "And it was a future with five boys… four that bared the weapons I gave to you four… and one high above that would be stronger than all of the four combined…" he looked at Garmadon unsurely, "I did not see your brother… or Misako there with you though…"

The blood drained from the brunette's face when his father said it in that dark and scary tone that always meant something terrible was going to happen, Misako held his arm tighter. "Dad…" Wu trailed off. "I-I… what…" he swallowed. "What are we going to do without you? I mean, how can we ever be like you?"

"I don't want you to be like me… you all are your own warrior… with your own talents and powers…" Masuta patted Wu's arm reassuringly. "You believe it was an accident you are all here and together? Fate has brought you together… you will be great my son… I think you both will… no… you all will…"

The hairs on the back of Garmadon neck stood on end and he looked around, feeling something wasn't right at the silent monastery but he didn't say anything except exchange glances with Misako who was more focused on the dying master.

"Now-"

"Dad…" Garmadon cut the dying man off and everyone looked at him, "I… we never got along... and… I know some of that was my fault… but please don't go yet… you… you can't ever die, you protect Ninjago…"

"But it is my time… and I do not wish to live forever… no parent should have to bury their own child Garmadon… and I think you of all people know the feeling and can understand why I welcome death."

The older son lowered his head, knowing that much was true about him. "Yes… I do…"

Wu looked up and heavily sighed, "that's it…" he stood up.

Misako squeezed her husband's shoulder and looked back at the others, nodding. Namiko's lip quivered and she turned to Kasai as she started crying.

Wu pulled the sheet over him and they sat out on the deck of the monastery. The younger brother was now to be in charge of the place and he felt lonelier than ever and everyone was still sitting around him. "I can't believe he really is gone now…" he whispered.

"He… he cared for me… he was… he was my second dad…" Namiko wiped her red eyes.

"Just like me…" Misako wrapped an arm around her best friend.

"He was like a second father to everyone I think…" Tanaka nodded in agreement with heavy sigh. He remembered the days when they were all young and life was perfect for them despite Garmadon's nasty venom at the time. Tanaka then looked up. "I sense we aren't alone…" he turned to look at the courtyard.

Everyone else got to their feet, sad, but ready to defend themselves. "My my my… so the old man finally kicked the bucket… about time I must say," Sigan stepped from behind the thick tree trunk. "It's so adorable to see you all in such pain… it truly is…"

"What the hell do you want this time?" Garmadon angrily shouted. "What more do you want to rub in my face? It was you who constantly keep showing up in life just before or just after something bad happens… so tell me… what do you want?"

"Wanted to tell you he died tonight because of us," Hatsu poked her head down from the roof she hid on. Her fuchsia eyes practically glowing in the dark. "Remember the serpent teeth? They're great for my potions… and poisons".

"You… poisoned him?" Anthony started at her as she jumped down with a grin.

Hatsu giggled girlishly, "Ooh you're a good looking one…" she looked back at Garmadon, "Wanna be under my control again sexy? Oh I'd love to have all you to be honest…" the corners of her mouth tugged up. "But I have a feeling some of you won't be so easy to get under my control…" she looked back at Anthony. "Maybe you". Her eyes glowed brighter.

"Not this again," Kasai closed his eyes and sighed, remembering the embarrassing of memory of being controlled by her when they were all younger. "Come on, we need to knock her out to stop it…" he pointed to Hatsu who pulled out her whip, wings spreading.

Though it was assumed by Sigan and company that they would be vulnerable being they suffered a loss and no weapons on them to fight back, they were rather wrong about that. Ella pulled out a ninjato from her robe pocket, Namiko her kakute and kobutan, gripped in her clenched up hands.

Crevan reached back and pulled out a couple of katanas from the wrack just off to the side of the shoji doors, tossing one to Garmadon, Wu, and Rose. Tanaka pulled out his own shurakins, they were ninja, and they were always prepared.

Misako was forced to sit back while she watched the others try to hit Hatsu instead of Anthony but he kept getting in the way. Finally, Ella pounced on him, fixed on keeping him down while the others took care of the real enemies.

Sigan was smarter though and snuck around through the dark shadows, pinning Misako's arms behind her back and pulled out a dagger of his own. "HEY!" he shouted angrily and everyone turned around, now ready to tear him apart for holding Misako hostage. "One move and she and your precious baby dies," he glared at Garmadon with his cerulean eyes.

"Garmadon!" Misako shouted, shoulders hurting from them being twisted behind her in a rough manner. She wanted break his jaw again but couldn't find strength to do it. "Guys!"

"What do you want?!" Wu shouted at him, heart aching from all that happened that night so far. "What more could you possibly want from us!? Golden Weapons? Not a chance! Masuta dead? You just handled that…"

"Oh you are all so stupid it's not even fun anymore!" the time ninja rolled his head back. "You all are so whiny and self righteous! It's so boring!" he pulled Misako closer, blade closer to her neck pressing the blade ever so slightly, just to hear her whimper. "Come on… someone take a chance… attempt to save her…"

Ella wanted so badly to slice his throat but was preoccupied with her hypnotized friend. "You bastard! We're gonna skin you alive if you touch her! If you touch anymore of us!"

Garmadon stepped up, sword blade up, "fine then… you want some fun? Just you and me… Let my wife go. Now."

Sigan pressed it a little harder, "Hmmm… how about this… just try and take her from me?" he gave his lopsided, demented grin. Garmadon saw just a little droplet of blood escape and Misako hissed at the small cut. He threw the sword aside and went full on in a tackle; that had done it for him.

Meanwhile Crevan and Rose turned around abruptly and knocked Hatsu off her feet, releasing Anthony from her spell. "Ella?" he looked as she sat on top of him, face turning red.

She blushed too and jumped off quickly, covering her face from embarrassment, "Sorry! It wasn't anything like that!"

The dagger was wrenched from the time ninja's hand when he shoved Misako to the ground, holding the wounded area over her throat. She was on her hands and knees, shaking and not bearing to look at the wrestling match the two foes were caught up in.

Garmadon had his hand clamped from the older's throat, squeezing it slowly as the time ninja wheezed, gasping for air desperately, even wondering if this would to be how he died. "I should have done this a long time ago… before you could have ever touched my family!" Garmadon felt his face burning with hatred for the man he intended to kill tonight.

Someone else jumped on his back, throwing him to the side, it was Kappa. "Hatsu! We leave now!" the two had to drag their leader away, practically hissing at the furious brunette.

He looked back to his wife, huddled on the deck. He rushed right over and held her tightly, moving her hand to see the bloody cut. It wasn't deep at all, just skin deep. "Misako…" he held his forehead against hers, feeling his heart pound at the thought of her dying. "Misako are you okay?" he quietly asked, still shaking.

Her scared green eyes glanced up and she squeezed them shut again, starting to cry. He turned to ask Namiko for help but everyone now was staring at Garmadon who carefully picked up his wife, "What?" he looked at everyone angrily. "What the hell are you all staring at!?" he looked back at Misako who was still crying. "Misako? What?"

She just shook her head and buried her face in his shoulder, clutching the folds of his shirt. Since he wasn't getting answers from anyone, he looked at his reflection on the blade he threw down before and squeezed his eyes shut; wanting to punch a hole in the wall he was even angrier.

"The venom never left your blood…" Wu's heart sank. "It just took time to re-spread and it needed a new trigger to activate it since you had a blood transfusion… Sigan knew and wanted to retrigger it…" he fell on the hard floor. "He picked the most vulnerable and emotionally unstable time to do it… and then he went after what you loved most… that clever bastard…"

**Oh my gosh this was five pages long XD I still can't believe this has reached 200 pages in my word doc... sheesh... you people happy I put Misako in harm's way!? Are you all finally happy?! I was planning this for like... two months now XD **

**Hehehe... oh gosh I need to get a life...**

**Ignoring that, I have work on Wednesday and Friday; yaaay... which means there may not be another update for Master Quest this week... Friday? Friday's my spare day where I catch up on stuff... I might end up doing each story only once a week for a while... damn why do I keep changing it every few weeks? I'm worse than Andy Dwyer's band names in Parks and Rec...**

**Back to this, I wanted to give you all a false hope of Garmadon being good :3 evil, ain't I? Just like when I killed all those other characters... *sadly looks off as I remember Namiko's dad, Misako's parents, the mentioning of Kasai's mom, the first unborn baby, and Hope and probably other ones because I can't keep track anymore... oh yea and Arcturus technically* and now I can add Masuta to list of people I murdered... **

**My own brother called me evil after reading over some of this story... I mean I broke the number one rule of Hollywood people! "Never kill the kid!" TOO LATE I killed a two month! oh my gosh I am evil... someone punish me *huddles in a ball***

**Thanks for reading! I really appreciate ^w^ **

**~Mar**


	70. Stick Together

The next day felt longer than it should have been. Just like the days when they suffered their other losses; the skies turned gray and the looks of a storm clung to the damp air. Wu barely was able to keep it together as he insisted he would bury him by himself after his brother guiltily offered to assist him even though he was frustrated with the fact the venom didn't go away.

"Five thousand years he protected the land he created… the people he must have befriended over all those years… just to watch them die as he moved on to the next… and then he met mom…" Wu surprisingly sounded calm as he spoke, "And she too was taken from him unexpectedly… then he had us… the first six… he never turned a child away when they sought to learn in the ways of the ninja and to escape a life of loneliness… and..." he trailed off, hanging his head as Misako hugged him from behind. "And he wasn't the best father all the time I guess… but…" he just shook his head and stepped back.

"But he still cared deep down…" Misako finished his sentence for him. "Most of us lost our fathers… and he became that for us…" she closed her eyes. "Without him… we would have nothing…"

Namiko clung to Kasai tightly, remembering that they were so young when they met Wu and then Garmadon and Misako by chance, later to be accepted to live here with them and to help people like what she always wanted to do. Kasai was grateful because he had no one to turn to after his own mother passed away, both learned there was far more to themselves that they had yet to unlock, and Masuta helped them to do it.

Tanaka had traveled hundreds of miles to ask if he would be accepted and he was gladly taken in at the age of eleven. Even though he may not have gotten along with the others at first, he too found a home with the old master at the monastery. He looked at the headstone and got on one knee, "Arigato sensei… thank you for making me who I am… and thank you for giving me a home I could always turn to…" he was always silent and rarely showed what he was feeling, but today, he allowed everyone to see how he felt, his master deserved that much. Crevan patted his younger brother's shoulder comfortingly.

Crevan, Ella, Anthony, and Rose didn't know him like the other six did, but they were friends nonetheless and to the others; family.

Wu looked behind at his brother who still stared blankly at the ground, almost looking like he was in denial of what was happening around him. "I… I know you dad… weren't so nice to each other… you never saw eye to eye; but there was a time when you did love him as our dad… and… well, I really want to know that my own brother feels _something_."

The red eyed ninja looked to the blue eyed one and shook his head, "Wu… you do not know what it's like to be in my head… you could never do wrong in father's eyes… so… be grateful you had such a close relationship with him… okay? Don't worry about me and how I feel about this because I really don't want to ruin this day for everyone by recounting every time he scolded me for something… because I don't know what I'm really capable of now that this venom is back," The blonde meekly nodded and backed off.

Misako hugged him tightly and it took a moment for him to register her affection and lift his arms around her loosely. To put it basically; he was numb. He was pretty much always numb to things ever since he threw the fit at his mother's grave when he was nine years old. He almost expected everything around him to die at this point.

His mother was the one who protected him from the terrible nightmares. His first two children were supposed to make him happy, not die and leave him. His father wasn't all that much a father to him. It was like death surrounded him all the time. He glanced down at Misako… _his Misako_… the last source of goodness for him that he always tried so hard to keep her close to him.

"Can you promise you won't join them?" he quietly asked so only she could hear him. "You won't leave me like they did? Ever?"

The green eyed woman looked up at him, almost surprised, but she tilted her head and touched his face, "Never…" she buried her face him his shoulder, "I'm never going to leave you…" She felt his hand slide over her stomach, "And neither this baby…" she added. "I promise…"

In response to that; he rested his head on the top of hers, squeezing his eyes shut, trying to hide the fact he was going to cry. They were the first to go inside to escape the cold, leaving the other eight.

"Life sucks…" Wu let out a long sigh after he said it. "It… it just really sucks…" he wiped his eye. Kasai patted his back, the only thing he could do for his best friend.

"He was the coolest old man I never knew…" the black haired one nodded. "I never knew my father… I'm happy I never got the chance to find out… Come on Nami…" he led his own wife inside since she was still shaking.

* * *

><p>Everyone who watched him die sat around the living room of the monastery that now belonged to not just Wu, but to all of them as what the blonde wanted; they were going to be the new masters that would carry on everything the old and wise man did.<p>

_And nothing's better than blood on blood  
>I promise brother, you are safe with us<br>There's no telling what tomorrow will bring  
>We all have our devils and oh, you've got to let them sing<em>

Sing, oh, sing for me  
>Beast in your belly, you've got to let it breathe<br>Sing, oh, sing for me…

"Wu turn off the radio…" Misako tired said, wiping her reddened face and he looked hesitant to do so. Wu slowly reached a hand out to do what she asked but almost felt no energy to carry it out.

Garmadon looked over at him, "Wu, I… just turn the damn thing off…"

His crimson eyes looked even more intense with annoyance and the younger brother jumped at the request. _"Oh brother… you don't want anyone to see it… but even though you say you hated father… you hated change even more…" _he turned the knob and laid back down.

Garmadon looked back down at his wife who sat, curled up in his lap as he stroked her light brown hair that came undone from its braid the night before. There was a piece of gauze still tapped to her throat where the small cut was made by the crazed time ninja as he held her hostage, almost like dangling her in front of him, as if he was torturing a dog. Every time he looked at it, he felt his blood burn so hot he felt like his whole body was on fire, feeling it was his fault he couldn't protect her better. In short, he hated himself.

He almost didn't know why he felt so attracted and over protective of her to literally anybody. Maybe everybody annoyed him but her. She knew him the best and the longest, even better than his own brother. He felt her shift and look up at him with bloodshot eyes. He kissed her forehead before leaning it against hers, "You should get some sleep with everything that happened…"

"You're all welcome to stay here for as long as you can..." Wu pulled his knees up to his chest, telling the others.

"I… I have Cole to get back to…" Rose sighed, standing up. "… Louis isn't very good all on his own taking care of him…" she wiped her brown eyes. "I'll come up tomorrow though Wu…" she held his hands and kissed his cheek. "Don't… just get some sleep yourself…"

"Same with us…" Kasai and Namiko came over and gave Wu a double hug. "We're always here when you need us… and… we'll bring the kids over… you'll probably like the company…" Namiko mindlessly said and felt him nod.

Tanaka was quietly talking with his brother and Crevan left, but not him. "I'd be happy to take up your offer to stay old friend," he remained seated and offered a smile.

Ella looked back at Tanaka and then Wu, "I wanna stay here too," she straightened up. "I live alone so I don't think you should right now". Wu smiled a little at Ella. She was only twenty eight and seen war and so much. She sat at his side and squeezed him tightly.

Misako looked back at Garmadon who was looking away from Wu. He glanced back at his wife and looked down, "I…" He tried to fight every desire to up and leave right at that instant but knew Misako would be angry with him later. "I'm fine with stay up here for a day at least…"

The green eyed woman almost looked in shock that he came out and said it. Then he gave a hint of a smile and squeezed her hand. Every time he did that it always had to do with fighting the urge to snap off or to do something he probably would regret later on. She squeezed his hand back acknowledging it, leaning against him again, ready for this awful day to be over.

**So I've been an emotional wreck still over the season finale since I watched it all the way through... personally I hate how they made it how Misako fell in love with him... she loved both boys but then decided on one... but it was over a letter?! Come on man let's get creative here... It just makes me sick to my stomach thinking about what they made the relationship of those three... my poor baby even tried to tell them and Chen ruined it all for him... I hate Chen... (and wait, you'd figure that Wu would ask Misako if she ever got a letter from him... I mean... why wouldn't he!?) Like I said... stupid... Lego, can you stop writing relationships from now on? Because I can't handle this bullshit anymore XC**

**I almost wasn't going to post this week at all that's how awful I felt... but now I can't sleep so I figured to finish revising this... I swear if I ever get around to working on a Serpentine fic based more off of the elemental masters and Garmadon training with Chen... I'm going to still mix it up and not make everything hinge on a damn letter... Just saying guys, I don't care about the show "canon" being the comics are now even considered to be an "alternate universe" yet still canon... So what evs, the canon is all screwy anyways, this fan fic is my canon no matter what hahaha...**

**It's late... I'm emotional again so yea, sorry guys ^^; Thanks for reading though... I think the Hagemen brothers should hire me to do the backstory writing... what do you think? lol XD BTW the song I used is "Sing Sing" by The Bones of JR Jones, one of my favorites and on my Garsako playlist.**

**~Mar**


	71. Hidden in Text

Less than a week later they found out, they were going to have a boy.

It didn't change the mood much but Misako seemed happy it was going to be a boy, what with everything; he probably figured she would want to have a boy anyways. Not a day went by where their friends didn't visit or at least call them. If anything, Masuta's death was bringing them closer together then they had before.

The friends almost lost sight of anything happy or good in the world though; feeling darkness closing around them for some reason, even though normal people seemed to go about their days just fine. Yes; once more the deranged ninja and company had vanished as quickly as they came, wondering what he would have up his sleeve the next time he would come around to wreak havoc in their lives and cause them to doubt the good in the world even more.

Garmadon and Misako were so sure they would be fine after he woke up to see his eyes were no longer red, now he seemed to not know how to behave at all, like he was having a mental conflict. He laid against her as she read literally anything to him to occupy his time and mind, even though he normally hated books and reading, just listening to her voice seemed to do some good for him.

Misako flipped through, skimming pages of the journal until she stumbled upon something new she never remembered seeing before, "Hey honey…" she gently elbowed him to snap him out of his dozing off. "Listen to this… I don't remember this journal entry… it was hidden in the back of the book…" she frowned, doing a double take and felt around to see strange pocket in the back.

_Over the time of my studies, I have discovered there may be a possible way to cure someone who was cursed by the Great Devourer…_

Garmadon was at complete attention now, sitting on his knees and looking over her shoulder.

_Somewhere deep in the very heart of Ninjago and its jungles resides a small object that can cleanse anything impure; a scale from the first gold dragon that aided my husband during the stone wars and drove back The Overlord's attacks. It has healing properties to a cursed victim if crushed and made into tea. Though it is hidden away by the ancient tribesmen, I have drawn a map that leads to its possible area. _

Misako frowned, seeing the handwriting was more wobbly than most other entries and pulled out a tattered map from the back pocket and looked at her husband. "Do… you think it's real?" she quietly asked, opening it up, having her doubts as she looked at the aged piece of parchment.

"I'm going to go find it…" was all he said and tried to get up but she pulled him back down on the couch before he even had a chance. "What is it?" he looked a little annoyed as he tried to snatch the map, constantly missing because she kept pulling it from his grabby and urgent hands, almost willing to tickle it out of her.

"Why; do you think you're going? And all by yourself?" she frowned more, knowing that was just what he was thinking. He raised an eyebrow, "I'm coming with you! And I'm sure we'll need the others for back up as well!" she folded her arms, nodding, deciding that's what they do. "Who knows what we might encounter! It's good to do these quest things in a group".

He stared back at her, not believing what she was actually saying, "Like hell you're coming with me!" he pointed at her, looking furious she would dare suggest a thing like that. "Misako you're four months pregnant…" he tried to reason with her… he should have known he wasn't the only one who did stupid things in this family. "Who the hell knows how long this is going to take! You could very well end up having the baby on the trip!"

"Which is exactly why I'm going to go! I can't have absolutely no one by my side when it happens!" She nodded, assuming her authority of team leader, standing up. "I'll be fine…" she smiled, looking back down at him. "I wanna see that dragon scale for myself too…" she held a hand to his face and he nodded, understanding why this was just as important to her as it was to him.

Without hesitation she called up everyone right away, saying what they found in the hidden pages of the book and without another question everyone signed up to tag along in this silly little quest for something that might just be a myth, though of course they were hoping for it to be very real, for Garmadon's sake.

"Ooh! They're going for it! I can't believe they're going to go find it!" Hatsu landed, clapping her hands, a little too excited maybe. "This is so exciting! What are we going to do now Sigan!? I was thinking an ambush and then we kill them all for real!" she looked over his shoulder, holding on his arm while laughing like the demon spawn she was.

Sigan glanced down at his overly cheery henchwoman and without another word, he turned around and handed her a piece of paper after writing something down on it. She frowned and read It silently, "Oh…" she looked up, realizing what he wanted, "No problem I'll deliver the message right away…" she smiled and kissed the evil ninja's cheek.

"Be back in a day my dear," her scaly wings spread out again and she left the hideout to carry out what Sigan had written down for her.

"So if I'm right… then it should be the deepest part of Hiroshi's Labyrinth…" Creven looked at the map with Misako, trying to line up Delilah's map with a regular map of Ninjago. "See? This clearing, matches up… though… it's so odd that you never found this until yesterday… you had this book for years… so… why now just discover it? You imagine you'd have found this a lot sooner… you're always so thorough." He looked back at Garmadon who was talking with others. "I hate saying this Misako… but be prepared for literally anything to go wrong… because something will…"

Misako looked at him, trying not to feel worried and mindlessly held a hand to her stomach that made a small impression against her tunic. "I know it… it seems coincidental but… it's real… I… I want it to be real…"

Crevan put a hand on her shoulder, "My brother and I feel that this has a strange aura around it… just be on your guard Misako…" he quietly said. "I know you want this to be real… this is so important to you as well and I know that… but Tanaka especially is right about things like this…" Misako quietly nodded, understanding his warning to her.

Ella peeked over and squealed, surprising them both "Dream team's going on another adventure!" She hopped along as they started off into the jungle. She loved that she met the ninja during the war because her life instantly became more exciting than a normal, day to day job.

"I just hope this isn't going to take too long… We have kids you know…" Rose reminded everyone of Cole, Seliel, Kai, and Nya that people were watching for them while they were tagging along on this new quest. "But hey, what are friends for if they won't go on crazy camping trips into the wild for something that could take months? Am I right guys?"

"Then off to the Labyrinth!" Namiko shouted, raising a fist in the air, her husband, Ell, and Wu joining her. Though they were in their thirties, they were just as childish as ever when they were together.

Garmadon had a faint smile for once and Misako naturally took notice, "I saw that…" she quietly chuckled, elbowing hi lightly. He looked down, almost startled, "You hate to admit it… but you really do have a heart under all that callousness…" she stood on her tip toes and kissed his cheek. "So… what's the first thing you wanna do when you see that golden scale?" she asked.

The brunette frowned at the question, "Well, I'm going to thank the gods that I'm not destined to be some cursed monster..." he picked her up, throwing her off guard, "And then I'm gonna kiss you like I never have before…" he walked along with her in his arms.

"How about you practice right now?" she bit her lip in a smile and pulled his face to hers, the couple laughing as they trailed behind the others. "Ooh… I hope you'll do even better when it really happens," she giggled. "Put some more tongue into it," she told him.

Wu rolled his eyes, listening to the two mess around, but kept on walking with Kasai up ahead, following, Rose, Tanaka, and Anthony who seemed to take the lead for them.

**My brother helped to brainstorm what I should do next actually... a lot of stuff in the next chapter is based on us screwing around talking about stuff... lol I have two words for you for the next chapter: water fight**

**But that will be NEXT Monday :3 and even then you won't know what our devious demon girl is up to hahahaha all I can say is maybe we should be taking some advice from Creven on this one...**

**Thanks for reading :D **

**~Mar**


	72. A Camping We Will Go

Misako wasn't too crazy about sleeping on the ground, guess she never really thought that part through about coming along while pregnant. She rolled on her side, remembering when she was nineteen and found she was pregnant for the first time when they were all young and innocent; they had fought Gahrann the Dreamer and saved a city from eternal sleep.

Thinking about the old days rather hurt her brain to think about. She started feeling herself drift off when she felt her husband shift beside her abruptly. She sat up and looked to see he had his back turned to her almost balled up under the thin blanket. She frowned and sat up on her knees, gently shaking his shoulder, "Is everything alright?" she whispered.

Should have known he was asleep, "Garmadon… wake up…" he sat upright, jumping out of sleep. He looked at her, almost looking scared. She tilted her head and pulled his face back to look at him when he turned away, seeing his eyes were unusually bright red tonight. "What was it about?"

"I'd rather not say…" he took her hand off of him and went to lie back down. "It was nothing…" Misako just shook her head and kissed his forehead. "I hear the shadows call my name the older I get… one day I'm afraid I'm going to snap…"

"We're going to find the dragon scale… you're going to be cured… and you're going to be the best father in the world…" she hugged him tightly. "I'll make sure that happens…"

He almost scoffed at what she said but she didn't take it personally. "I know you just want to help… and they just want to help… but was it really necessary that they all come along?" he looked back at her. "I always feel like I need my hand to be held because you all think I'm unstable!"

It got quiet and he covered his face, coming to realization, "Oh who am I kidding…" he plopped his head back down on the ground. "My whole life I've been emotionally unstable…" he started balling up under the blanket, accepting defeat.

His wife just sat on her knees, listening to him talk on. Some days she wondered what would become of Garmadon had she decided to withdraw completely and be with Wu. _He_ wouldn't wake in the middle of the night; need her to reassure him constantly. What was so different that made her pick Garmadon to want to live a life like this?

She frowned, knowing the answer; she knew Garmadon since they were babies, they couldn't even remember the day they met it was so long ago. She was there when Wu was born and remembered it well enough being she was three at the time, almost four. Maybe that was it. Wu always was able to make her laugh or put a smile on her face. He was the sweet and honest one and some days, like when Garmadon was in the hospital, she thought about him if she let them be something more instead but she couldn't quite shake a brotherly outlook on him completely.

Garmadon was an angry ball of anxiety and hatred to even their own friends on occasion… they both were just friends in the beginning of it all. She stopped herself, remembering back to when she was little and her parents constantly left her behind for most of her life. Every time she'd be sad and run to hide, Garmadon was the one that chased after her to make sure she knew she was loved and felt wanted. Wu wouldn't dare go into her room to be with her as she cried because he saw it as giving her her space; it was the older brother who was more tuned into how she felt.

They snapped occasionally at one another but they understood one other well enough, or at least that's what she believed. "I know this is going to be hard, but they mean well… and so do I… understand that we're coming with you just because we love you… we're all friends… you made sure I knew I was loved and wanted in the world and you were more selfless than you think… so let us do that for you…"

He turned to his other side to face her and when she laid down; he wrapped his arms around her tightly. "You must think I'm such a pain in the ass all the time…" he buried his face in her light brown waves. His hand slipped around her waist and rested on her stomach that still just barely showed that she was expecting.

"No…" she smiled, "Only about… hmm; ninety percent of the time…" He responded with lightly ticking her, "Ah! Honey no! Come on-!" she said between laughs, "the baby!" she shouted and he finally stopped, smiling a bit himself. "Thank you…" she panted.

"I love your laugh…" Garmadon nuzzled the side of his wife's face as they continued to quietly laugh together. The two were brought out of their little moment when Misako stopped.

"Did you feel that?" she looked down at his hand that was over her. He looked over at her and she smiled, "He moved," the two hugged tightly, "First time I felt him really move..." she wiped an eye. "Come on… we'll have a bit of a trek tomorrow… you should get some rest…" she brushed his brown hair back and kissed him goodnight.

* * *

><p>The next morning they started following the river that ran through the thick forests where it was easier to walk and navigate with the map. "Ugh, I'm dying from this heat…" Rose plopped down against a cluster of rocks, pulling her long, black hair back into a ponytail.<p>

Namiko looked at the river and walked closer to it. She could see the bottom so that was a bit of a relief. The brunette looked back at the others taking a break and started slipping off her outer robes till she was left in a tank top and underwear. She jumped in, relieved even more the water only came up to her hips. "Guys!" she called for them. "Come on… we need a break," she smiled and waved a bit to them.

Kasai wasted no time and jumped in with all his clothes on, getting his wife even wetter but she giggled and they started splashing around together. Wu and Ella naturally joined them next. "Hey! Come on! The water's nice and cold!" Wu folded his arms on the bank with a smile before Ella and Kasai pulled him back in like they were little kids again.

Anthony looked back at the others and shrugged, "I don't know about you… but I like this crowd over here," he chuckled and pulled his outer layers off and hopped right in as well with the younger four ninja.

The next thing they knew, everyone was in the water, splashing around and enjoying cooling off from the humid and sticky jungle air; even Garmadon looked like he was having a nice time as Wu attempted to tackle him, failing naturally. "I see you're in a better mood from last night…" Misako swam up to him.

"I'll be in an even better mood when I see that dragon scale for myself," he went to kiss her but something dumped cold water all over him. He looked back to see Wu and Crevan with their empty canteens, finishing emptying the river water on to their red eyed friend. "That's it!" he growled a little angrily and grabbed them both by the arms, yanking them in and body slamming the two under the water, not at full force but playfully enough.

Namiko covered her mouth, giggling at the three. She was now sitting on the bank, just her knees down in the cold water. "Get em Garmadon!" she called to him, throwing a fist in the air as she rooted for her older friend.

Misako looked behind and saw Rose quietly creeping up behind her husband and pounced, knocking him under the water with Anthony. The bigger ninja choked out water when he resurfaced. "Okay I'm done with water for today…" he grumpily pulled himself out of the water to dry off after having the four ganging up on him.

"Alright come on… we should get moving anyways…" Tanaka nodded, getting out as well, shaking his shaggy black hair. "We wasted enough time here I think…" he helped pull Ella out of the water and the rest of the friends started getting out as well.

* * *

><p>They continued to walk even when it got dark out just to make up for time they wasted. Rose looked back at Misako who seemed to be trailing back more with Namiko at her side. "Hey I think we can use a breather…" she looked up front more at the guys ahead of them, "Think we're forgetting Mimi's pregnant…"<p>

"Oh gosh don't worry about me and the baby… please…" the woman with the glasses sighed at Rose for speaking up. "We're fine… come on… Anthony, we're almost there right?" she asked the dark haired man with the map. "Right?" she raised an eyebrow.

The stopped, "Well… I think…" he rolled it up and sat on a rock. "Don't worry… it's okay if we take a rest so I can have a better look at the map… I love camping with my boys but I was never the best; I'll just get the compass out and see exactly where we are… and I'm hungry myself," he admitted. "And you need to think about yourself every once and a while…"

"I'll get a fire going," Ella volunteered happily.

"And I'll help you," Tanaka went with her.

Misako gave up and sat down; clearly they wouldn't listen to her. "Oh come on, we all could use some rest! And you _have to_…" Namiko eyed Misako. "You forget I'm in training to be a nurse now so you have to listen to me when I give advice like this… you opted to come and you invited us to help… so let me help".

The green eyed woman took off her glasses and smiled, "I really am lucky to have you and Rose for my best friends aren't I?"

"Someone has to watch your back when it comes to this stuff," the younger hugged the older.

* * *

><p>Once the fire was going, Tanaka and Namiko started cooking while the others were talking around, "Oh yea, my son Cody's way better at this map stuff than me, I sometimes wonder why… then again, my wife's a great tracker, that's why it's always fun to go hunting with her," Anthony chuckled.<p>

"Just make sure we're not going in circles, okay?" Creven came by and looked over, turning the map around.

"Oh uh… thanks…" the brunette sheepishly said. "Okay yea we're on the right track!"

Garmadon leaned on the heel of his hand lazily as he listened to the others talk around him as they sat in a circle around the fire they had made. His wife couldn't tell if he was tired or simply bored with everyone. She slipped her hand in his and leaned on him. "Come on… I know you'd like to be alone for a little while…"

No one really noticed the two leave the circle due to the fact Kasai was now in the middle of telling everyone one of his "scary stories".

"I just want to get moving is all… I… I didn't really plan for this to be some camping vacation…" Garmadon leaned against a tree. "I'm sorry if I'm… ruining your fun… I know carrying the baby makes you get tired faster…" he looked at her swelling stomach.

Her fingers folded over it and she tilted her head, "I know that this is so important… probably one of the most important things we have ever done… but we're on our way… I looked at the map for myself and if we follow the river for while longer, then we're going to make it by the end of the week if we keep the good pace we've been going at…" she walked over and he hugged her tightly. "So… what do you want to name our little boy?" she asked, changing the subject.

"What?" he chuckled, pulling away a little, "It's only a little over four months Misako… you want to name him now?"

She nodded quickly with a smile, "Yes, right now, I want to call him by his name. It'll be much faster than constantly saying "our baby" or "the baby" you know," she told him.

"I'll be honest I never really thought of one… I… kind of wanted to leave that up to you…" he scratched behind his head, a little embarrassed at admitting it to her.

She frowned, leaning against him and accepting that he wanted her to name their child. "Well… back when we were going to have the first baby… well… I was thinking of… Lloyd…" she bit her lip. "A nice, normal sounding name," she chuckled.

He looked down at her and raised an eyebrow, "Lloyd?"

"Yea, you said you wanted me to name him, and that's what I chose," she nodded. "What's so wrong that name?" she frowned.

He smiled, "Absolutely nothing… but I get to give him a middle name…"

"Fine; what did you have in mind?" she folded her arms.

He chuckled, "Well if I was stuck for a first name, what makes you think I would know a good middle name? I'll tell you when I think of one," he leaned down and kissed her quickly on the lips. She still looked less than happy at that and he picked her up, "Come on, I wanna tell Kas what an awful story teller he is and go to bed". They headed back for the campsite.

**I have about ten chapters written ahead... I just go through these spurts of inspiration! Anyways, yea, long chapters coming... IDK I think this one might end up being 100 chapters... I'm trying not to make it so dragged out like that... but yea... **

**And I'll be working tomorrow after a week of being sick again, so that means I need to finish the next chapter for Falling Inside the Black tonight... gaaah... so many fan fics! It's driving me insane... why do I do this to myself? (oh yea, because it can be really fun...) **

**Prepare for emotionally turbulent chapters, especially chapter 73... oh gosh... my brother called me evil again... haha oh... but sadly you will have to wait like 2/3 weeks to know why he calls me evil... oh yea, that's why I love fan fiction... to see people wait in agony (I hate waiting too so I know how it feels hehe)**

**Thanks for reading and now if you will excuse me, I have stuff to write! **

**~Mar**


	73. Blame Game

Anthony rolled up the map and turned around to face the other nine behind him, "Well… everyone, I don't mean to cause a panic… but I think we're lost because I read the map sideways or something…" he held his hands behind his back, bouncing on the balls of his feet, "Any questions?"

The other nine stared blankly at him. "You mean…" Rose started, stalking up to him, slowly, "We have been wandering around for almost two weeks because you can't read a frikkin' map!?" Next to Garmadon, Rose was the second tallest so she had crane her neck down as he voice escalated which startled a flock of nearby birds. He meekly nodded at her and she went off at him in Spanish, the others could only make out a few curse words amongst the rapid speaking.

"I forget she's bilingual…" Namiko pressed her lips together and side glanced at Misako who was holding her face and shaking her head at this new mess they were in. They both could tell Garmadon was itching to strangle someone just by the way his hands were clenching and unclenching at his sides though he kept his face rather neutral to the bad news.

"What now then? How do we get out of this mess?" Tanaka tried remain calm about it all as he stood between, Rose who was starting to settle down and Anthony who was taken aback by her sudden harshness towards him. "I suggest that we stay calm and find our way back to the river and go from there… I know how to make a compass if we lost ours".

"We did, it fell out of Wu's pocket and got ruined when Kasai tackled him into the water yesterday when we took another swim break…" Ella frowned at the blonde and his friend who sheepishly looked away from her glare.

"Yea well you knocked one of our tarps in the river and it got carried downstream and we lost it completely!" Crevan looked back at Ella, "So don't go accusing Wu like you're so perfect kid!"

"Excuse me!?" Ella raised an eyebrow, "I only knocked it in because you were busy roughhousing with Anthony and Garmadon! That wasn't my fault at all! I was trying to get away from you crazy people so I wouldn't be dragged into your dumb game of who's the strongest!"

"No no no, Cre" Rose snapped her head to the look at him next, also in agreement with Ella, "You're also at fault _because_ Namiko and I know you've been snacking in when we're not looking and lied about it whenever we stop for dinner! And you better not lie to me again because I will shove you in a quicksand pit next time I find one!"

"WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP!?" Garmadon had finally had it, "I never asked you come along, after Mimi invited you people I thought we were gonna get along like how we normally do but you all are just plain irritating to live within the same tents like this! You all are to blame if we're lost okay!?"

"And you're always blowing up over everything!" Anthony snapped back. "Seriously man, it's like you have no sense of humor or anything!"

"You haven't known me my whole life you idiot!" now it was Anthony and Garmadon's turn to get into personal arguments. "You have no idea what the hell I've been through! I lost two kids and my mom! People always seem to go after my wife who I can't always protect too! Not to mention I'm the one that seems to almost die twenty four seven! So yea, I don't have a whole to be happy about!"

"Oh you wanna get out the score cards now on who has it worse!? I lost a kid too buddy!"

"OKAY ENOUGH BLAME! And not personal tragedy score keeping! Anthony! You know Garmadon is just sensitive and he's lost a lot! So can it and don't be a jerk!" Misako spoke out next, hands around her swollen belly that had grown bigger since they first set out almost a month ago. Garmadon was the only one who still looked the most worked up over listening to everyone. "Now…" she let out a breath when everyone fell silent, "If we're done with that… how about we work together like the team we still are suppose to be? Because I am five months pregnant and I will not be stuck in here until I'm full term," she pointed to everyone who looked away from her reasoning. She then turned to her husband, "And you…"

"I know…" he mumbled. "But he started Mimi…" he lowered his head, almost like a child who was getting reprimanded for getting into a fight with his brother.

"Sh…" she stopped him. "I know… I know he started at it…" she glanced back at Anthony who looked away, almost ashamed. "Please, try and keep it together…" he went to open his mouth and retort her but she wouldn't let him, "I know… anything can trigger you like that and you have every right to be angry… we are all… cranky and tired and probably a little hungry… but we're going to get through this!" she looked back the others. "Got it?"

"Yes ma'am…" most of them mumbled. The men especially remembered how she blew up at everyone when she found them on the island months ago and that was plain terrifying to remember for them.

"Now, we're going to find the river again… Tanaka is gonna make us a new compass… and we are going to find the scale and we're going to do this as a team and then we can all go home and forget what was said here," she told them, "Let's go," she turned and started walk with Garmadon close behind.

Naturally when they all were a team during the war, they had hundreds of other people bustling around and at least keeping it all interesting for them seeing different faces instead of the same nine others in cramped jungle quarters. Not to mention it was Misako who was in charge of everything hence, Garmadon be in charge of other things which kept his mind busy. Here? Well it was kind of boring just doing nothing but walking and sleeping.

* * *

><p>While the others were busying themselves with refilling the canteens and such Misako was sitting by herself; letting her achy feet and ankles soak in the cold water of the river. She heard footsteps come closer and smiled a little knowing it was her husband, "Hot as hell…" she said out loud. "And sticky…" she pulled the folds of ninja robes from her neck before sliding a hand down over her growing stomach.<p>

"Yep…" he answered, sitting next to her. "They're almost done…" he held a hand to her stomach as and felt the baby move a little. "I can carry you some of the way if it's getting harder to move on…" he looked at her pull her feet out of the water, pretending she didn't need to soak them now.

"I'm fine…" she puffed, starting to look for where she left her boots.

"Namiko doesn't think so…" his wife frowned and looked away, folding her arms, "She said if you strain yourself you could go into early labor or hurt the baby…" he went on. "Especially if you don't get any sleep or eat as much as you should… what good are you really to anyone if you overdo anything?"

"Fine… you may carry me…" she snootily said to him. "Sure I'm not too heavy?"

He gave her a look, "I know you're probably as strong as me, but I think I can handle carry you of all people Mimi… you're a lot smaller than me…" he turned around, "Alright people, let's move out! _Her highness_ here wants to move forward before resting for the night!" he shouted at the other eight making his wife giggle a little.

* * *

><p>The gray skinned monster looked at the scrap of paper and its winged bringer, "Sigan… The time ninja that's been giving the ninja a hard time?"<p>

Hatsu nodded, "Yes… he said you could do it all… make illusions and all that stuff… well… can you?" she asked the recipient of the note Sigan wrote for her to deliver. "He said you've dealt with them before right?" He nodded. "So will you do it?"

He grinned with his pointy teeth, "Of course… it has been so long since I paid those brats a visit…" he handed the paper back to the demon woman, "Tell him I'll do it… only if he lets me kill them".

"Sigan would like one person in specific to be dead though, so you should at least do that but you need to leave the cursed one alive," she snickered and spread her scaly wings, taking flight once more back to her hide out to report in to her master that her contact had accepted the request of the dark ninja. "Everything is going to plan! I can't believe this whole, elaborate scheme is really working!" she did a barrel roll in mid air, laughing devilishly as wind whipped her loose hair around.

* * *

><p>Misako sat back, propped up on some of the backpacks while they were resting for dinner. Namiko seemed to be the fussiest over making sure she got rest even though the woman said she was fine, Garmadon just agreed with her because she was just so insistent to keep moving forward to find this thing for him. Finally, the expecting woman finally gave in when they were getting hungry.<p>

"You know… I know you want this for me… but try and take things easy…" he looked up to meet her green eyed gaze as he rubbed her feet. "The last thing I want is you getting hurt for me…" he looked at her scar on her throat, feeling guilt once more wash over him. She nodded when she realized where he was staring and smiled a little and he quickly looked away, raising a hand to that scar. "Better?" he got up to sit beside her.

"Yes thank you…" she breathed, going to slip her boots back on, "Getting heavier and it makes my back hurt…" she rubbed a hand over her stomach. "I forgot what a pain in the neck pregnancy is… I blame you for getting me pregnant for a third time," she laughed a little. "So… what did Tanaka say? Are we almost there?"

"We're on the right track again," the lavender clothed ninja walked over, taking a seat next to her and showed her the map with Garmadon looking over his shoulder. "See? We're here and so far I think we have another… hmm… thirty miles let's say? Until we get to the tunnel entrance and then it should be pretty smooth from there navigating tunnels notwithstanding naturally… hopefully it'll be a straight shot".

"Good," she nodded, feeling a bit better about that. "So if we step it up we can be there in a couple of days!" Garmadon rolled his eyes; there she went again being so instant on moving.

Ella hopped over and clung to Tanaka's arm, "Good ol Tana! You're so smart!" she giggled. The married couple exchanged glances. It was almost like how Namiko use to behave when they were all a lot younger and before she decided to give Kasai a chance at being a boyfriend. "Come on, I just finished the rice for dinner," she started pulling him away.

"Ella; hang on! Let me get to my feet!" he stumbled to get up as she pulled on his arm harder, leaving the couple to nervously laugh at her obvious behavior.

Kasai and Namiko looked over as well and started whispering to one another, "I know, that's how I acted a little… wasn't it?" the brown eyed girl bit her lip in a smile and looked at her husband who nodded in agreement, "I wasn't that… obvious though…"

"No, I suppose not…" Kasai kissed her cheek. "Just enough for me to know my best friend was head over heels on a puppy love crush". She perked up and elbowed him while he chuckled.

Anthony, Crevan, and Rose were sitting on the other side of the campfire chuckling as well while Wu was out for the count, snoring away as he was flopped over on his sleeping mat being he was pretty wiped from all the walking, he didn't quite have the stamina of the others. "Does she really think we don't know about her crush?" Rose raised an eyebrow. "Because she only acts that way with Tana…"

Crevan shrugged, "Knowing my brother… he's the not the romantic type at all… I swear… he's just really nice to everyone, especially girls… he's just a gentleman… but he's not interested in romance or anything like that…" he lounged back against the tree trunk he was against.

"Yea… I remember when my boys discovered girls and flirting…" he chuckled. "They were kind of… standoffish to having a girls act like that with them," he smiled thinking about it.

The ten finished their dinner and then one by one they all fell asleep; preparing to get up and start the last leg of their trek to the place this magical artifact was supposedly hidden away, just waiting for them to find it and cure their friend of his terrible curse.

Hopefully they wouldn't get lost again…

**I figured, ya know... you're stuck in the middle of a jungle... and you can easily get sick of everyone, especially when things are going bad... I feel like Garmadon would pull a "he started it" kind of thing... poor Misako just wants everyone to shut up and get along... listen to the smart one people... then again, Misako, I swear I know you want to help Garmy get all better, but please think about Lloyd too girl, you gotta listen to him and Namiko when they say you gotta rest XP Earth ninjas are so thick headed and think about their team all the time, don't they?**

**IDK, I always enjoyed writing Misako as the leader figure of the group. She's the only stable-ish one besides Tanaka naturally... but oh look, Hatsu met up with her contact... BTW, after this escapade of chapters, she'll get a little more for character growth as well and add to her personality... did I mention she's going to appear in Falling Inside the Black tomorrow? Because she totally is... I should draw her... I haven't drawn all of my OCs... I should do a sketch dump of fanart/concept art for this story... sound good?**

**So I think that's all I have to say, thanks for reading! I know this story is so hella long now and is also now considered an AU or... a universal alternate to what apparently REALLY went down in their past... but I really appreciate everyone who's reading it because despite we know so much more about what's canon, this is my canon because I loved writing this so much XD**

**See ya guys later!**

**~Mar**


	74. Camellia Fever

One thing about jungles; the air was humid yes and that wasn't always too much of an issue if it was mild, but it did tend to make it harder to breathe and it rained when you would least expect it to; causing a bit of an inconvenience to you exploration and further discomfort to you _already _cranky band of ninja.

Everybody was grouped into pairs or in threes, tarps or sleeping maps over their heads as the trudged on through the downpour that had literally come out of nowhere about ten minutes ago, it seemed that nature wanted the last hike to be the most uncomfortable thing ever and to top it off, it was hot air and rain, not even cool breeze to give them a break.

Wu was under the same tarp as his brother and sister-in-law, trying to keep up but his feet kept getting stuck in the mud, "Man… this is miserable…" he found it harder and harder to breath and pulled the collar of his shirt away from his neck more. "I swear, it has never been so hot…" he wiped his face with one hand and struggled to keep up with the longer strides of his brother who started slowly down for his wife.

"We… I gotta stop…" Misako agreed tiredly and stopped her walking, doubling over a bit. "I can't go on right now I think…"

"We're almost to one of the small mountains near where we need to be, so let's rest there I guess…" Crevan suggested and Garmadon carried her the rest of the way there, at least it was rather dry in there compared to outside. Only downside was that the couple got wet because he couldn't carry her and the tarp.

"Hey… you okay…" Wu asked, looking concerned. "You're really pale…" he tilted his head a little at Misako.

Namiko quickly came over with one of their dryer blankets and her canteen, "Here ya go…" she smiled. "Exhaustion… almost dehydration… it's raining and being wet isn't good on top of that! You gotta be careful with this stuff… and I mean it! You keep overdoing it and you're only gonna hurt your baby if you continue to do this! I mean… if you already haven't… you still feel him move every once and a while?" she cautiously asked.

"Yea… trust me; he makes himself known…" she rubbed her belly, "I just don't want everyone to keep stopping because of me…" the woman with the glasses looked away. "I don't want to delay anything… I'm the leader; I'm not supposed to be weak one of the group…" she coughed a little, pulling the blanket around her shoulders, unlike the others, she was actually cold now.

"You're delaying us more if you get sick or something!" the younger brunette woman narrowed her lighter brown eyes as she turned into doctor mode. "I mean it Mimi, one more time and I swear… we're taking you home where you can rest… I don't care how close we are to getting what we came here for… as our team leader; do you want that to happen? You make sure that we complete the mission with little to no casualties, so stop making yourself the casualty".

She looked up at Garmadon who sighed and nodded in agreement at last. "Okay…" she nodded too and laid back down, accepting defeat. "We can rest here for the day I guess and continue on tomorrow morning…" she closed her eyes, "I'm not feeling too great anyways… maybe I should just sleep…"

A pair of fuchsia eyes peered in from the mouth of the cave and chuckled, "New development I see…" Hatsu smirked when she saw Misako not looking too well. "I know just what to do…" she continued on her way to meet up with Sigan after checking on their prey.

* * *

><p>The time ninja and Kappa seemed to be eagerly waiting for her to return. "So!?" he asked.<p>

"Yea, he'll do it without a doubt but…" Hatsu coiled the end of her whip around her finger tip and bounced on the balls of her feet, almost a little excited for the added news she wanted to tell him, "They're almost there… but dear dear Misako looks ill… as of late when went in and checked on them…" she stepped up more. "And I thought that you could use that to your advantage".

Sigan's eyebrow twitched up as did the corner of his mouth, "Oh yes… I have the perfect addition to this little adventure…" he stood up and motioned for Kappa to follow, "Do you still have any of the teeth from the water serpent left over that you used to make the sleep agent?"

"We have some still, yea…" Kappa answered for him. "Uh… why?"

"Hatsu; isn't there a cure for a rare disease from the Hiroshi's Labyrinth that it can be used for?" he further questioned.

The demon woman frowned, "It can be used in to cure basically anything… except for Devourer Venom naturally… uh… why? We quite don't understand where you're going here Si," she frowned.

"I believe from what you said, the bitch picked up something in the forests being she obviously pushes herself too hard… it'll be her downfall… so let us… add something new the game… maybe that'll get the ball rolling more" two woman stopped while he kept walking out the door and they looked at one another curiously before going to follow him through again, knowing further questions would be answered if they did.

* * *

><p>Namiko kneeled beside Misako's sleeping form, not looking all that happy as she looked like she was doing a small assessment like how she would in the doctor's office. It was early in the morning and the others were starting to pack their things when they noticed Namiko's hesitance to pack her own things and came over quickly.<p>

"Nami… what's wrong?" Wu cautiously asked.

She looked back at the brother and bit her lip, "She uh… she's running a fever…" she admitted. "It seems she's sick… and I don't know how we all can be fine but she isn't-" she stopped her and groaned, "Stupid… she's pregnant… she got completely wet when we came to this cave to camp… she literally over does everything… weakened immune system damnit".

Garmadon moved his friend out of the way to feel his wife's face, "Mimi…" he quietly said. "Honey wake up…" he told her gently, starting feel his heart pound; afraid she was going to stop breathing or something.

She weakly opened her green eyes, "Ugh… my head hurts…" she complained. "Did it stop raining? Are ready to go on?" she tried sitting up but everyone kept her down. "What? I'm… I'm alright please…" she coughed more, closing her eyes again.

"No… no we have to…" Namiko swallowed, shaking her head. "You can't go on… you just can't okay?" The others behind her knew she was withholding something though and she turned around, "I've seen this before and it's not good… the doctor I intern with called it Camellia Fever…" she told them. "Sometimes you die right away and sometimes it progresses slowly over the course of a few months… there are different strains of course… but I remember they all come from the jungle… this jungle… It isn't contagious so don't worry guys," she looked back at the earth ninja. "But you seem to be catching it rather quickly…"

"Camellia… that's…" Wu swallowed, "That's what our mother died by… she went to Hiroshi's Labyrinth not long before I found out she was going to die! Is there a cure?!" he grabbed Namiko by the folds of her tunic. "Please tell me there is one that's been found since then!"

She squeezed her eyes shut and Garmadon helped his brother freak out at her, "Namiko you better tell me that Misako and Lloyd are gonna be okay!"

She shrugged her shoulder rather helplessly, "If there is a cure… we never found one… and for whatever reason my powers can't cure sickness… just broken bones and flesh wounds…" she lowered her head, "I'd say Misako has a week based on her condition give or take a day… just hope that I can work a miracle and the baby won't get harmed at all…" she felt Wu fall forward and she hugged him tightly. "I'm so sorry…"

She glanced at Garmadon who sat still, just listening and not believing it, going back to sit with his Misako. "Get better… you have to get better…" he stroked his wife's face. "Please Mimi don't you leave me too… we were going to have a family… remember when we lost the first one? We promised… we promised to get married and try again…" She quietly looked up at him, grasping his hand gently.

"_Hellooooo!"_ The group of ninja turned around to see a feminine figure enter their camp, "Hello! Remember me?" Hatsu giggled playfully. They all went to spring into action, weapons ready to be thrown at her but she raised her hands, "Hey… flying by and heard one of you was sick… Camellia Fever, my my; nasty little devil isn't it?" she placed her hands on her narrow hips. "So I decided… that we should play a game since you're desperate here…" she smirked.

"No games!" Garmadon barked at her, "I don't have time for you bullshit you harpie!"

"You want a cure? Well you can find one here you idiot," she snapped back at him with even more venom in her delicate voice. "So like I _said_," She glared back, "There is a cure and it's right where you're headed…" she held her hands behind her back.

"What do you mean?" Kasai asked her slowly.

Hatsu laughed, "The scale right? Everyone knows about… everyone as in those who live in the shadows who fear it from taking their darkness…" she turned her back and looked over her shoulder, "So go ahead and find it… she does have about a week tops… can you find it and save her and you son in that time?" she spread her wings and flew away.

Garmadon could hear his heartbeat in his ears as he looked back at his wife who shook her head, "No… it's for you… I won't let you sacrifice a cleansed life for me…" she clenched her teeth.

"Stop it…" he told her. "Just shut up," he growled more. "Where the hell would I be if you or Lloyd weren't in my life even if I got better?! Do you not understand that if you give it up your surrendering not just your life but someone else's?! Our own baby?" she flinched at his angry and harsh tone with her, "I need you two more than I need that freaking scale… I'd kill myself if I was cleansed but you were gone… my life means nothing without you and I'm not letting anybody else in my family die, much less by the same sickness that got my mom!"

Everyone was silent and the only sound that could be heard was his heavy breathing because he was so worked up over the thought. He looked behind at everyone who started to look away. "What are you all waiting for!? Let's go! Right now!" he snapped at them all.

The others quickly started to pack up their things, though Namiko kept insisting that Misako was in no condition to travel now. "Please! Garmadon! You're such a thick headed idiot!" she hopped angrily as she followed him around as he cradled his expecting wife.

"I'm carrying her so shut it, I'm not gonna leave her and you this far behind to wait up… if she's right there when we find the scale, then it'll be better and save time…"

The brunette girl looked up and angrily sighed, "We don't even know if Hatsu was telling the truth! It could be all a lie and it could do nothing for her! It might even exist for all we know! This could be all for nothing and Misako could very die for nothing!"

He stopped and looked behind at her, not saying anything and she swore she felt her heart stop by the cold look of despair in his crimson eyes. "I…" she looked down because a chill went up her spine, almost like when she looked at any enemy they faced in the past. "I shouldn't be saying that kind of stuff…" she admitted. "I'm sorry…" she wiped her eyes.

"No… you shouldn't be saying that kind of stuff…" he agreed with her blankly and walked on. "Now let's go…"

* * *

><p>"No…" Misako shook her head and Rose and Namiko grimaced.<p>

"Mimi take the damn medicine… it'll help with the fever from reaching fatal levels!" Rose hissed and pinched her friend's nose. "Open up!" she forcefully said.

"That tastes gross," the sick one spat.

"Well it's good for you and you're probably getting delirious from the fever as it is!" Namiko shook her head. "Trust me sweetie… I know you aren't thinking straight but it'll help both you and the baby. Try to keep that in perspective at least."

"The tunnel goes deeper," Anthony came back, "I think this is the place…" he looked at the others who were sitting around, waiting on him, "Come on guys… let's go… we don't exactly have a whole lot of time…" he looked to Garmadon.

"I'll be back okay?" he kissed her forehead. "Just be a good girl and take your medicine okay?" she weakly nodded and he kissed her again. "Rose, let's go," the eight started down the long tunnel, leaving Namiko to care for his Misako.

Ella fumbled around to pass around flashlights to everyone so they could see in the dark and found that at the end of long stretch, something was illuminating the cave with a bluish glow so they turned their lights off and slowly stepped in more, weapons in hand for any sign of an enemy or a guard.

* * *

><p>Misako snapped awake from her dozing off and Namiko looked over, scared, "Mimi! What is it? Are you okay?" she ran over.<p>

"No…" she shook her head more, holding it because it still hurt but couldn't help but be so alert. "Not okay…"

* * *

><p>"Well… what do we have here? Eight… no… ten are in this cave… ten little dreamers for me to control…"<p>

"I remember that voice…" Wu's eyes widened; not seeing anyone else in the room but them however.

* * *

><p>"Someone's waiting for them, I…" Misako could just sense it was coming. Namiko looked up, wanting to run to the aid of her own husband and friends, but also didn't want to leave Misako so she just sat on her knees, hoping they would be okay. "I remember this feeling… remember back when we were teenagers? In Yumei?" Namiko gasped when the mention of the town their first mission took place was made, knowing just who her sick friend meant.<p>

* * *

><p>"Miss me?" the gargoyle monster stood up, stone wings stretched out wide. "I missed you six and your… no wait… I sense four are here and the two I felt the first time are back at the front of the cave… oh and one of them is sick… I can read her fever dreams and she is awfully scared… I think she recognized me peering into her sleep," he chuckled, "Oh wait… and there's a child that she carries… looks like she's expecting again, just like when I first met her… more far along now though so I wonder what her sickness will do to him…" he looked Garmadon in the eye with a smirk.<p>

"What the hell are you doing here!?" Kasai stomped one foot angrily. "Where's the stupid ass scale you scumbag!? We need it right now!"

Gahrann frowned, "The scale-? Oh right…" he held up a small bag. "I naturally see that you need it Garmadon who is not so young anymore like when I first met him… you have been through so much toil over the years I was in hiding… the child is yours of course right? And you know this cannot only cleanse you… but save your wife and baby from death's grabby little hands yes?"

"I'll do anything! Just… just give to me!" Garmadon cried out, desperate now to have it now that he was so close.

The gargoyle chuckle and wagged a finger, "For now you'll sleep… sleep and forget about your troubles…" his voice was hypnotic to the eight as their vision went fuzzy and black was on the edge of their vision while they started falling to their knees.

"No… stay awake…" Tanaka's words sounded strangled as he warned the others. "He'll use your nightmares he gives you to power himself… fight the sleep… he feeds off of it all…"

"Succumb…" Gahrann continued on with his spell on them.

Ella shook her head out of the hazy thoughts and grabbed her sword, slinging it over her shoulders, injuring their foe who fell back, releasing the others who shook their grogginess away and got up to fight, "Get the pouch!" the black haired girl pointed and started running, tackling the creature full on without any fear of him. "Give it over you monster!"

Garmadon was advancing with full force, aiming to kill this monster without a single regret, thinking the world would probably be better off with this thing to harm people and their dreams, something of which shouldn't be allowed to exist.

Gahrann didn't know what else to do so he sent out a black cloud of smoke in which the eight all inhaled, "Nightmare vision". He quietly said.

No longer were the ninja fighting the gargoyle but now they were fighting things that were not even there and they had no idea.

"I know this stupid trick you coward!" Garmadon shook his head, trying to clear it like the training he had been through as young boy. "Face me for real you fool!" he roared, feeling more angered with every swing of his sword. Finally he saw the shape of what he expected to be the enemy and slashed, eyes glowing bright red with anger as he heard the little voices urging him to kill.

_Do whatever it takes to win_

He jabbed his sword forward when the figure turned around.

It wasn't Gahrann's voice that screamed though when the sword hit. The black haze faded from his mind and on the cave floor, in a growing pool of blood; impaled by his sword was Ella.

**Well... what a cliffhanger eh? Haha I bet you're all freaking out and will be posting stuff like "WHAT THE HELL WHAT THAT?!" or "OH MY GOSH ELLA!" and I don't blame you personally. She was so cute... like seriously I loved writing her little flirty self. **

**Okay enough about dwelling on the death; I was thinking of starting to make this into a webcomic! :D Yea sweet right? I just don't have the money to afford all the lego sets I would need to make stop motions, especially the older sets and stuff I that people jack the price up on... I'll buy the newer sets but I just can't make stop motions for stuff like that sadly... so it would all be uninked and uncolored or at least some pages depending I guess. But I need to get a lot of pages done ahead of time so I can just post without problems. **

**I also wanna make "In Another World" a webcomic too but this one is more completed... soo... yea... who'd be interested in that? It'd be good drawing practice for me too.**

**Anyways thanks for reading! Shame you have to wait an entire week to see what happens... if she really is gonna die or not... **

**~Mar**


	75. Breaking

Garmadon looked down, expecting to see Gahrann there but his eyes widened and he quickly pulled the weapon from the young woman's abdomen and threw it across to the other side of the cave like it was the plague, heart racing as he realized what he had done, the glow to his eyes pulsating with fear instead of anger this time.

"Oh gods…" he panted, coming fully back to reality, his eyes stopped glowing soon after. "Oh gods Ella… I…" he looked away as Rose got down, all forgetting about the enemy that seemed to have vanished from their presence, sinking to his knees, feeling guilt wash over him. They all seemed to not pay attention to the fact that it was him who stabbed her even though he still felt like throwing up.

"Come on; let's… let's get you to Namiko!" Rose and Crevan lifted her up but she refused their kind offer to help her.

"No… it's okay…" she coughed out blood with a sad smile, feeling hot tears fall down her cheeks from the pain, "She can't heal a wound like this in time to save me even if you did bring me back right now…" she swallowed, eyes watering over even more. They all looked at her like she was crazy yet they didn't move like what she told them.

"I'm happy you were my friends… you were all I had in the world really… I had no real future… no family… just the adventure of being with all of you… and I loved this lifestyle even though we got into so much trouble… then again I still felt I would never be a part of the deep friendship you and the other girls shared…" she looked at Tanaka, Kasai, Wu, and Garmadon. "I know you all knew each other far longer…" they heard her start to wheeze.

Wu sniffed, "Come on, you're plenty a part of the team… who's gonna be the one to shove me into a lake or… or always try and cheer everyone up? You can't die Ella…" He held her hand a little. "We lost so much, we can't lose you too now…"

"Wu… you guys are just the best…" She smiled through her tears and she looked at Tanaka directly. "I understand you don't feel romantically… but I loved you anyways… and I always have from the moment I met you in the training camp back during the war because you were so kind towards everyone you met… especially a dumb girl like me…" Garmadon was behind everyone else, wiping his eyes as he listened to her.

She looked back at the others, "you all made my life so incredible these few years…" She looked to Garmadon who glanced back just a little when she paused and Crevan moved out of the way so that she could see his face, "And… I forgive you Garmadon… he tricked you… don't… don't feel bad… please… don't hurt yourself because of this… Mimi and your baby need you…" her breathing quickened a little and she knew her end was near.

He couldn't bear to turn around again as he stepped farther away from the group as he covered his face and shook, hearing her die right there, feet away. He never saw someone die in such a hideous way like this. It was always silent and natural, not bloody and painful.

The gray eyed ninja in lavender held a hand to her pale face and rested his forehead against hers and her green eyes flicked up to meet his and she sealed their lips together as her eyes were drooping shut. Tanaka was just a little surprised but didn't seem to mind it; he gave it to her as a final request. He sat up though when he felt her body go cold, touching his mouth.

"Rest sweet Ella… you'll be at peace now…" the gesture made her eyes leak even more and she stopped breathing altogether, peridot eyes wide open and Tanaka closed them for her as she had the faintest smile on her face. "She was a real sweetheart, wasn't she? She almost looks like an angel with that face…"

Everyone noticed Garmadon was the only one not in the small circle anymore. Instead, he was huddled in the nearest corner, balled up from the look of things and hands on his head. "Brother…" Wu slowly walked over to the brunette, hand reaching out to him.

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!" Garmadon screamed at him and the younger brother and company all fliched, taking a step back from him. "ALL OF YOU!" he kept his hands to his face, not bearing to look at any of them, "Just go… go away…" he wouldn't dare get up or move anymore.

At this point, he didn't care about Gahrann vanishing with the scale that would help them; he had forgotten all about his dying wife and their baby she carried yards away from him and just wanted to run away and hide for the rest of his life, forgetting everything about it.

"Guys…" Anthony called and they all looked at the pedestal that was in the center of the room. It was a large, jagged tooth and there was a note underneath it.

_You idiot; like there really ever was an object that could cleanse darkness like that… I planted the bait when I found your lost journal! Gahrann was here to fake you out and to push you to brink of your venom. Now one of you has fallen and Garmadon murdered her, just like I wanted it to happen. I did not foresee the bitch getting sick though but it worked out anyways… but as a parting gift I give you a tooth from the water serpent in which I have pulled all the strings since our short time there in Umibe, it's the only known cure for Camellia Fever but us in the shadows only know that. I bid you all a fond farewell and maybe we'll meet again someday soon! –Sigan and company. _

Anthony held up the tooth and looked back at Garmadon who was now on his feet and half fuming, half scared as he swiped the tooth from the other's grasp and started running back to Namiko and his wife as fast as he could, not waiting for the others to catch up to him. "NAMI!" he shouted at her. "Crush it, do something with it but just make Mimi better," he looked at the half asleep woman and held a hand to her cold face.

He wanted to wake up and be in his own bed with her and his long gone children, and have everything, from the monsters, the venom, and all the death in his life, be just a terrifying nightmare and he was just a normal person. But fate was never so kind to him.

Without another word or even asking where the others were, Namiko had obeyed, seeing he looked incredibly unstable and wondered what had happened that she heard screaming and fighting. From the look of things to her, he did or saw something that wasn't good. Once she was finished she gave it to the sick woman who quickly started looking better like magic.

Her emerald eyes flew open and she sat up more, arms around her stomach like a reflex, "I…" she looked up at her husband who had red eyes brighter than normal once more. "Garmadon…?" she whispered and touched his face and saw his eyes were now squeezed shut at her touch as he held the her raised hand; he was crying. "Honey… I'm okay now… really… you saved me…" she smiled. "Where's the scale? Is there any left? It should work on you… too?" she trailed off and looked behind him.

The two women both turned back and saw Tanaka carrying Ella's bloody body and Misako felt sick to her stomach again, "What… is…" the pregnant woman swallowed, finding it hard to talk all of a sudden. "E-Ella?"

Tanaka nodded and looked down sadly at the young woman who would always be following and fawning over him and who wanted to just be a part of the friendship the other members of the team possessed. "I… she got stabbed…" he laid her body down gently and looked away from the hideous sight. His tunic was almost completely covered in her blood and Misako saw the gaping wound in her midsection, feeling bile rise up as she wanted to throw up at such thoughts of their fight and what could have happened.

"Did Gahrann do that to her-?" Misako looked back to her terrified husband who squeezed his eyes shut harder, holding hand to his face again, it was not a look of simply watching her be killed, it was something far worse; this was his ultimate guilt. "Honey… what… what did you do?"

"I KILLED HER!" he shouted abruptly, making her jump as well as the baby. "I FREAKING KILLED HER! THAT'S WHY SHE'S GONE! I WENT ALL VENOM PSYCHO AND I KILLED HER INSTEAD OF GAHRANN! It… It should have been me!" he got up and ran out of the cave so he wouldn't have to look at any of them, feeling ashamed for what he had done to the young woman.

Misako slowly got up as Crevan and Rose tried to explain in better detail what happened while Wu and Kasai looked down the path the older brother fled to, not moving; scared of what would happen if they did try and follow. Shortly after, Misako ran down as well after Namiko tried to get her to sit down, chasing her husband as fast as she could. _"Please… don't let him do anything crazy…"_

"GARMADON!" She called after him.

* * *

><p>"GARMADON!" he heard her scream his name and stopped, huddling on the ground and gave up on running from her, feeling his body shake as he landed on his foot wrong. She saw him pull out one of the short swords they had with them on his belt. "Garmadon don't you do that!" she screamed at him, going to lunge, it was Namiko all over again it seemed. He ended up dropping it moments later though on his own accord, digging the blade into the dirt.<p>

"I just don't have any real nerve do I?" he said it softer than a whisper but she still heard him loud and clear, "I'm not a coward to kill someone else… but take my own life? I'm so weak".

She got down on her knees; touching his face, "My Garmadon…" she started crying too. "You're no coward… it's… it's going to be okay love… killing yourself is an easy way out… you're braver than most people-" she went to hold him and be closer but he wanted none of that.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" he quickly scooted away from her but she followed anyways, "Get away… just get away I'm not someone you should love… I'm a monster… I'm something you set out to kill like in the scary stories… I belong with people like Gahrann or Sigan… Hatsu… all of them! I'm not human… I'm far from it now and this proves it all…"

"It wasn't your fault!" she shouted back, face tear stained now like him. "He used a spell! He tricked you into killing her! _He_ was a coward and he set out to make you feel like shit and do this to yourself! Don't you understand?"

"It doesn't matter… No matter how you look at it I still killed her… she was a pretty much kid Mimi! She was twenty eight years old… she had a whole life ahead of her and I ended all of it! You have no idea what this makes me… leave right now… go home… right now… Wu will take care of you like he always should have! My father was right… I'm a cursed monster who should be locked up…" he pointed to the trail. "Leave me…"

She couldn't believe he was admitting all of this to her. "I'm not going home without you! As long as you're here I'll be here too! I don't care! What about the scale though!?" She asked him, afraid he really was going to stay here by himself.

"THERE NEVER WAS ONE!" he screamed even louder, and there was dead silence after a flock of birds took flight, scared by his voice. Misako sat with wide eyes, barely breathing at reality. "There never… there was never one…" his voice cracked and he held a hand to his eye, crying more.

"Sigan planted it in mom's journal to lure us here… it was lost for so long because he had it all this time… he was the one that has been behind everything since we went to Umibe… don't you get it Misako?! I'm damned! I have been damned since the day I got bit by that frigging snake! And all that bastard wants to do is torment me like I'm some animal for his amusement… drive to the edge and break me more than I already am! So leave! Leave me because that's what will keep you safe!"

She sat in silence still, staring blankly at him. "No…"

"Misako?" he quietly asked, seeing her emotionless reaction turn.

She started shaking. "No…" it was all she seemed she could say as her eyes produced more tears than she ever cried before and she fell forward, tightly hugging him, "I've been through too much with you to do that!" she clung to him though he was against it. "Please don't ever tell me to leave… what about the kids we lost? What about all those nights we cried or the war and battles we fought side by side on? You're father was wrong, you should never have been caged like some bird, he should have been kinder and helped you!" she sniffed, burying her face in his chest. "Please Garmadon… we both will never be okay if we part ways! What about Lloyd?! I don't want to raise him on my own and I don't wanna marry Wu! I want my husband!" She sniffled more, "Hold me…" she hiccupped. "Please…"

He felt her warm and trembling body against his and her growing bump and lifted a hand hesitantly before clinging to her, crying his eyes out from all the guilt and pain he had in him. "I'm sorry…" he choked out at last. "Mimi… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" he constantly repeated. "I'm so sorry I killed her…" he held his face next to hers. "I'm sorry I made you cry…"

"I know you are…" she hiccuped. "I know my love…" she kissed his wet face a couple of times as she still cried on with him. "I love you… I love you and you are wanted… I want to help you… just like Wu and the others… you're going to be okay… it wasn't your fault love… they manipulated you… just like they have from the start…"

**Oh the tears... this was so emotional to write for me... There are three stages of shipping; 1. EEH KISS NOW!, 2. FRICK THE FRACK DUDE, and 3. Cuddle together and be one another's emotional support as you break down and suffer OwO**

**Oh and by the way, Tanaka is asexual and aromantic if I never made that clear in this entire story... actually uh... Garmadon's also demisexual in my stories... **

**Haha... oh gosh why did I kill Ella? I almost feel like I'm gonna regret it later... gah... it's always a hard choice when I do that... but sometimes it needs to be done... man why do I break my poor baby? I need to write like some modern world AU where they have a bunch of babies and instead of ninja and superpowers, they're all kids playing pretend and Wu's like their babysitter or something... oh gosh... no no no... not another AU... I am in over my head with that...**

**Gah well thank you so much for reading this! I love you all and see you later! :D**

**~Mar**


	76. O Children

The remaining nine wasted no time in getting her body back home before decay would set in from the humid jungle air. Even though he was drained from what happened, Garmadon pulled out the old scroll from his wife's pack and proceeded to attempt the teleportation spell, just because he wanted to feel useful and he kind was the only one who could work it.

Tanaka had insisted on carrying her though and for once in a long while he showed pain on his pale face because of the sweet girl who loved him was lost forever. He may not have loved her back in the same manner, but she was still a friend and should never have had her life cut short so soon.

_Pass me that lovely little gun, my dear, my darling one_

Ella was right when she had said she had pretty much no one in her life. They really were her only friends and even family. She had two dead parents and an older brother who was still alive and maybe a cousin or aunt but they didn't stay long for the funeral being it looked like they had better things to do than to stay. It almost disgusted the others when they left after about a half an hour. People she had known her whole turned their backs, leaving people who didn't even know her all that well when they thought about were there paying her more respect.

Garmadon couldn't stand being there; being it was his fault she was gone, he felt it was wrong that he was there to pay her respect. He decided that he was a walking bad luck charm to everyone; he had no idea why he returned home with everyone when he knew he would make their lives nothing more than hell. Then he looked at Misako, pale and tired from what they had endured the nights they spent crying until this day came, a hand around her bump through her jacket. She was his reason to keep going, to try and be happy again.

_Here comes Frank and poor old Jim, they're gathering around with all my friends  
>We're all older now and the light is dim, and you are only just beginning…<em>

They were about to leave the gravesite when he looked back at her name on the marble tombstone. "Ella Jennifer Montgomery…" He looked back at his wife who by his side, mumbling her name. "I stabbed you in a fit of blind anger… you said to let you go but it's still because of me you're dead…" he slowly walked away. "But I know what I want his middle name to be…" he quietly said. Misako looked up hearing him talk, "I want his middle name to be your last name…"

"Montgomery?" She blinked and he sadly nodded, looking down at her. She smiled a little though it was a sad one, "I think that's perfect honey," she looked down at her baby bump, feeling their child move again as if saying he liked it as well. As soon as they had got back from their trip she went straight to the hospital and all was well with the baby which only relieved Garmadon of anymore left over worrying. "I heard the others talking about going up to the monastery… I think we should go too…"

He just shrugged as he helped her get into the car, "Yea… Okay…" he simply said, not really having anything else better to do. _"There's someone I wanna talk to anyways…"_ he thought to himself.

_Forgive us now for what we've done; it started out as a bit of fun _

It wasn't just the nine, Rose's family had come up as well as Crevan brought his daughter and Kasai and Namiko had their son and daughter with them and the kids were in a room down the hall, quietly playing with one another while the other adults talked, not fully aware of their purpose there.

"I just don't know what to do at all anymore…" Misako shook her head as she talked with the other two women, wiping her glasses, "I'm afraid I'm going to find him dead one of these days…" she sniffed, feeling like crying again. "I have never seen him so unstable…" She looked out the window to see him sitting by himself. "He keeps saying he's a horrible monster who shouldn't be alive anymore… it was all an accident though…" she held a hand to her eyes as she started crying again, the other two hugging her.

_O Children, Lift up your voice_

_Children, rejoice, rejoice_

"I killed someone mom… she was so young… like you were when you passed… I don't want to live anymore…" he lowered his head, "I don't deserve to live… I'm a monster but no one wants to believe me when I say that I am one… you had all the answers… we could have cured you if we only knew… and you could have helped me maybe…" he pulled out the black pendant that was once possessed by her. It was a wedding gift from his father along with his half that Misako wore. "I miss you so much…"

"Brother…" Garmadon sat up but didn't bother to turn around and look. "You're not a monster… you're our family and right now… you're the only blood family I have left… you have a wife and son… and all I have is you…" he walked closer, kneeling beside him, a couple of the flowers from the tree in his hand and his dropped them on the dirt in front of the stone with their mother's name on it. "I can understand how you feel and why you feel like this… but Misako is afraid you're gonna kill yourself… and it'd be selfish of you to leave her like that…" he got up again. "Just thought I'd tell you that…"

Garmadon sighed, "Tell me… brother…" Wu looked back. "If I am not a monster… what would you call someone who kills and rages and is proclaimed as cursed by others? Would you still call me a human being after all I have done in my life?"

"Monsters don't feel remorse… unlike you…" Wu walked back inside to leave the older sibling to his own thoughts. Misako looked up when he came back in, not having to ask because he knew, "I don't think I was much help… I heard him talking to… well mom and he's such a mess…" he took a seat beside her. "No one is going to convince him he was manipulated and it wasn't his fault… I'm sorry Mimi…"

She rested her head back and squeezed her eyes shut, hands gripping the fabric around her stomach, thinking of life without him, "He can't just… I'll… I'll talk to him when we go home…" she put a hand on Wu's shoulder, "Thanks anyways Wu…" she smiled a little but it disappeared just as quickly as it came when he couldn't see her face when he hugged her. _"I can't believe that Sigan did all of this… it's so impossible… why does he hurt my Garmadon specifically… why does he want your father tortured…?" _ She looked down at her stomach as if talking to Lloyd mentally.

_The cleaners have done their job on you, they're hip to it man, they're in the groove_

It was a quiet ride home for the two. Misako insisted on driving just because Garmadon didn't look up to it at all and all he ended up doing was staring blankly out the window the entire way. Finally he spoke up when they were almost home, "Did you see there was hardly anybody at her funeral?" Misako swallowed and nodded. "How can a girl so sweet and nice have nobody… how could I have killed her Misako…?"

She gripped the steering wheel, eyes watering, "Life's unfair… but she had us… you said yourself that her last words she was thank us for giving her a fun last days… she would want you to keep going though… she would want all of us to…"

"Maybe…" he mumbled his answer. "She almost accepted death though… I just don't understand…"

She reached a hand over and squeezed his hand, "I know baby… but that just means that maybe you should forgive yourself… Rose and Crevan told me what happened love… Ella forgave you and she made sure that you heard it before she passed… she was busy trying to tackle Kasai who she saw as Gahrann herself… everyone beat each other up during that fight… you weren't the-"

"But I was the only one who drew my sword…" he looked like he was starting to cry again, cutting her off from trying to make a point. "All I thought about was get that stupid fake scale… I thought about how nice it would be to not feel hate again… to make you better too and we would finally be over this all… I didn't even think about the others around me… that's how clouded I was…"

She looked back to the road and withdrew her hand, "Okay… I get it… you overreact in almost every circumstance… but remember; you said yourself the venom felt stronger when you did it so my real husband is not at fault here…"

"I don't even know what that means anymore when you say that Misako…" He looked over when she said that.

She just sighed, "I know… but you're not all bad is what I'm trying to tell you… you still have a conscience," she held a hand to his face in a comforting manner. "I've known you since before I can even remember… I was probably two years old… and I've grown up… seen you through literally everything and I've seen your highs and your lows that no one else could seen and all the color in you seems to just dull away the older you've gotten…" she sounded even sadder.

"Well that is a very accurate description of how I've been feeling over the years…" he scoffed, lowering her hand, just holding on into quietly. "I'm starting to not feel happy about anything Mimi… gods I feel like shit…" he mumbled.

"I'm sorry my love… I really am… I'm here though when you need it and I wish I could take all that unhappiness away…" she parked the car and got out.

"I should be the one helping you though…" he sighed, getting out as well walked round to give her warm hug which he had been wanting to do all day long. "I'm an awful husband too I guess… not just a brother or friend… I can barely take care of myself let alone you and a baby… guess I can add horrible father to list too and he's not even born yet…"

"Don't beat yourself up, I'm a fully capable woman…" she rubbed his back a little and let go of him at last, "Now come on… I'll make you some tea and we can just sleep for as long as you need to…" she turned his face so he would look directly at her. "Okay?"

"Yea… okay…" he mumbled before she planted a kiss on his cheek.

* * *

><p><em>"<em>_You killed her…"_

"No I didn't… It wasn't my fault!"

_"__There you go again Garmadon, making you dumb excuses like the child you truly are…"_

"Shut up old man! It's not my fault! I didn't mean it! You weren't even there!"

_"__Yet here we are with Ella dead and your sword stained with her innocent blood… what's to stop you from killing her next!? From killing your baby!? You are a curse on this planet! You might as well leave before you can do anymore damage to the people around you!_"

Garmadon sat up in bed and covered his face and shook, "It's not my fault…" he kept repeating under his breath, "It's… it's not my fault…" he looked at his sleeping wife who was facing him, head on his pillow. She looked so peaceful. He held one hand over her large stomach, feeling him move where it was placed. A small surge of joy surged through like whenever Lloyd would do that to him, but it left even faster than it came when he thought about what the voice said. He couldn't stand the thought of causing her harm to her or the little life they made resting inside her.

He finally kicked the covers off, going down the stairs to clear his head, finding it hard to breathe suddenly. "I'm not a curse…" he kept repeating what his friends tried to instill in him over the past couple of weeks. "I'm me… I'm… not a monster… I wouldn't hurt them… It's not my fault…"

_"__Oh but you are one! Soon you'll be like us… like the shadows… the people that the heroes destroy…"_

He squeezed eyes shut, feeling sick. "Leave me alone…" he sat down, forehead touching his knees as he huddled by himself. "Go away… I don't want you in my head anymore…" he tried to sound angry but came off as rather pathetic. "I'm so sick of dealing with this…"

_Poor ol Jim's white as a ghost, he's found the answers that we lost_

The light came on and he looked up, startled but alert all the same. And there she was in her robe, a land on the light switch and the other on her swelling tummy. She looked at him with sympathy and she shook her head a little, walking over to him, not sitting down at first, but she did after a minute. "Who do you talk to?"

"No one…" he looked away, "I don't talk to anyone…"

"Then why do you constantly say "It's not my fault"? Why are you coming here to be alone and say "Get out of my head"? I just worry about you…" he saw she looked genuinely concerned for him.

"Mimi…" he suddenly hugged her tightly, burying his face in her shoulder, shaking. "I'm scared…" he almost sounded like a little boy who would need to be consoled by his mother when he had a nightmare.

_We're all weeping now, weeping because, there ain't nothing we can do to protect you_

She raised her arms around him, "Shh…" she hushed like she was consoling a little boy. "It's okay…" she rubbed his back gently, "Everything will be okay…" she gave a weak smile, feeling the baby kick. "Our baby will be here in a couple of months… and we'll be just fine… you'll see my love…" She kissed the top of his head, humming mindlessly to him until he would calm down enough to get up.

He sniffed and rested his head on her shoulder, hugging around her waist tighter. "What if it's not alright?" he dared to ask. "What if I hurt someone else? What if I hurt you? Gods Misako, if… if I did that I wouldn't be able to live for sure…"

"I'm not afraid of you…" she quietly told him, "And neither will Lloyd…" she held a hand to back of his head, "We love you just like Wu and our friends… you're going to be a wonderful father… and I will not entertain any other what ifs from you…" she let go and back away to see his face, "Let's go back to bed…" she smiled, kissing between his eyes.

"I'm afraid to though…"

"You have to get sleep…" she looked at him with a motherly frown. He sighed and just nodded a little, giving in to what she wanted for him. "Come on," she held his hand as they went upstairs again and back to bed where she continued to hold and quietly sing until he finally fell asleep in her arms.

_O children  
>Lift up your voice, lift up your voice<em>

**Angst...! Angst it's everywhere! Run while you still can from this crazy stupid story! The angst had taken over and turned it cheesy! aaaah! **

**Anyways, I was listening to my Garsako playlist (hell yea I got one of those totally) and I came across a song I hadn't heard in a hella long time, since like... Deathly Hallows PT1 came out and I fell in love with this song. It's called "O Children" by Nick Cave. While writing this chapter I couldn't get the song out of my head and had to put in snippets of verses in here (this is not the entire song, I left a lot out just to be safe and stuff) but I felt the song applied to the situation... story... kind of? IDK, interpret how you will.**

**Baby Lloyd REALLY REALLY soon I promise you all... also... this is my reasonable explanation for Lloyd to have a middle name like... Montgomery, I mean... the kid's first name is Lloyd for cryin out loud... no wonder the poor thing got bullied it school XD Please no one hurt me I kid, I kid. **

**So I plan on making a YT playlist of all the music that's been inspiring this story so far so you can listen to, but for now, take a look at this song, it's like 6 minutes long or something...**

**Thanks so much for reading! I promise a little more happiness in their lives before... you know what happens... **

**~Mar**


	77. Stay Stay Stay

He held his hands on her exposed belly, feeling their little unborn life move, smiling. It was just two weeks away from the expecting date and it was a rather love hate feeling for Garmadon. He knew that Misako said she wasn't afraid of him but he couldn't help but feel he was putting her in danger if her continued to be around, you can only imagine what he felt.

It was a debate that had been going on since the week after they got back and buried Ella. He wanted to hang around so badly because he just loved his wife so much and figured she would be crushed if she had to care for Lloyd without him. And if he stayed to see his little Lloyd be born; then he knew he would never want to leave no matter how much of a threat he became.

The red eyed man looked up at his wife's smiling face and just had a hint of one now as his faded at such thoughts. "Ever wonder who he's gonna look like?"

"The thought has crossed my mind…" he held his a weak smile, feeling her resting her forehead against his. "I'd rather him look like you though in all honesty…"

She gave a chuckle and pulled her shirt back down, taking his hand, "Now why do you say that? I think he's gonna look just like you… so handsome," she leaned forward and kissed his nose. "Hey is something wrong?" she noticed he was more silent than usual.

"Nah…" he kissed her back gently. "I'm… really I've been dealing with… it…" he laid his head on her chest. "You know that… I love you… right?" he glanced down at her swollen tummy, seeing the baby move some more. "No matter what I do…"

She rubbed the back of his head moving down the neck and then back while her other hand still held onto his firmly, fingers laced together. "Why of course…" she reassured him like what she always seemed to have to do since their jungle excursion, she didn't mind it too much; it was almost a habit. "And you know that Lloyd and I love you right back?" she kissed the top of his head.

"Yea…" he mumbled and sat up. Ever since it happened he looked so much paler, it also seemed he had permanent lines and dark circles under his eyes from grief, guilt, and or the nightmares that would keep him up at all hours. All in all, Misako and the others would describe Garmadon as… well… a complete and utter wreck… but they never would say it to his face, he probably already knew it anyways.

He stretched out on his side of the bed and let out a tired sigh while his wife just patted his shoulder reassuringly. "I'm proud of you…" he glanced up, cocking an eyebrow and she chuckled a little. "You don't see it… but you're healing… I know that you still feel bad… because no matter what you say you're an open book to me and lying will get you nowhere… just remember Ella would want you to forgive yourself… and I won't stop reminding you until you actually do that."

"I know Mimi… but it keeps replaying in my head and I can't stop thinking about it all…" he almost sounded like a zombie. His eyes dropped shut like he was going to fall asleep but he wouldn't of course. He only did that to make her think he was okay.

"You should actually get some sleep instead of faking it to me… staying up all night isn't very healthy…" she commented, lying back against her pillows. "And when the baby gets here you'll want all the sleep you can get…" she closed her eyes, feeling tired as well.

"Misako?"

"Yes…?"

"I… I'm just really happy that you married me…" she looked at him, surprised. "You could have had anybody you desired… you're smart… beautiful and kind… and… you chose me of people… thanks because right now I would probably just… waste away if I didn't have you…" he swallowed. She sadly smiled, feeling it was genuine.

The two moved closer to one another, heads on the same pillow as they wrapped themselves up in blankets and finally was able to get some much needed rest. "Never leave me…" she sleepily kissed his forehead.

He hesitated as he opened his eyes to see her drifting off, dark thoughts eating away at him again. _"Remember… the longer you stay with her the more you get the chance to hurt her! Maybe you should run away and hide in a cave because she is not worthy of your love!"_ They seemed to taunt him.

"I… I promise…" Garmadon closed his eyes again and answered, feeling a hot tear slip down his cheek as he slowly loosened his hold on her much smaller form. He didn't even know if he was truthfully saying it or lying. _"I love you too much to let something happen to you Misako… that would be the last straw…"_

* * *

><p>Wu sat on the bar stool while Kasai slid another drink over to him, "Man… Wu, this is your second drink… I thought you hated this stuff and you took the biggest size glass…" he looked mildly concerned for his best friend as he checked the date on the bottle to see what it was he was even giving him. "Sheesh man, have you been mixing whisky and gin?"<p>

The blonde shrugged a little and took another swig of the drink he always claimed to hate. "I think I poured a little bit of the vodka Nami keeps in back too, but, yea… but it doesn't really affect me I guess… maybe I'm just trying to get drunk and forget but it's not working… I don't know anymore but tea isn't doing such a good job with relaxing me… I talk on the phone everyday with Misako and he just isn't the same anymore… my brother I mean…" he corrected. "She's getting so close and no matter what he says his mind is in the past… and it probably always will be at this point between what? Mom, Hope… even dad… now Ella… and to top it off Ella's gone by his hand…"

The black haired ninja nodded, "Yea I mean… I feel so bad for him… I know he must be feeling like a ton of shit…a real grade A asshole…" he poured a pint of whisky for himself. "And Misako's just so brave to deal with all this… I can see why you had a crush on her…"

Wu blushed a little at his friend's comment towards his feelings for her, that… may still have existed somewhere in him and just wasn't admitting to it. "Yea well… my father said when I was young that… well she's a girl full of love… and not many people are strong enough to have a husband like Garmadon... unlike her of course. I'm almost jealous of her personality," he shook his head. "I'm almost happy I don't live with my brother anymore because I would be worthless to him…"

"Oh don't go saying that, you try… maybe he even appreciates it but doesn't say… you know how he is… only softie around Mimi," Kasai waved it off. "I just hope he'll get better… I even attack you and bruised a couple of ribs because the spell made me think you were Gahrann..."

"Yea…" Wu stared off with a sigh, rubbing the area that was injured during that fight mindlessly. "So… Nami?" He redirected his gaze to his standing friend.

"Certified nurse my friend," the two clinked their mugs together. "At least there's some good news with that… need a ride home by the way? After two whole giant servings of that toxic mess, are you even seeing straight?" he asked, seeing Wu finish his drink.

The blue eyed one paid for it, and shook his head, "I'm actually fine… I'm gonna go drive by and see how they're doing though, they're only a couple blocks away and maybe I'll crash there for a while… see you around Kas," he waved before exited the bar and sighed as he started the car. He always made random visits, just because his sister-in-law was due soon and was afraid Garmadon would phase out on her. She also seemed to enjoy some company. Rose, Namiko, and Kasai as well did the same whenever they could spare a moment.

* * *

><p>"Well… what do you think?" Misako looked back with a smile. "Think it's all done?" she turned around to full face her husband in the doorway, looking around. They painted the room green the day prior and now it was all finished. They had procrastinated long enough what with being in the jungle and the events that followed shortly after.<p>

He nodded, "Yea, I suppose," he gave her a half smile, wiping his dark ringed eye. He couldn't help but smile at her joyful expression he didn't show it but felt it on the inside more or less. "So, how soon exactly?"

"I was a full forty weeks yesterday so anytime now," she looked down before hugging him tightly. "I can't wait to see and hold him Garmadon… I still can't believe we made a little life…"

"Yep…" he breathed, feeling their son kick more like he always did, holding a hand over the area. "I can't wait either…" he swallowed, turning away slightly and he kicked again. _"Maybe he knows what I'm thinking of doing or something…"_ he looked away.

She felt something was wrong and she let go totally, "What's up?" she asked. "And don't you lie to me," Misako folded her arms across her chest, demanding an answer from him.

Garmadon shook his head and started walking back down the stairs with his wife following close behind, "I'm not gonna say it… you're gonna get upset if I do…"

She rolled her eyes, tired of the games. "Honey come on… how bad can it possibly be that I would get mad at you?" she pulled at his arm a little so he would stop walking, looking sincere.

"Fine…" he sighed, a little irritated, "I keep debating about walking out one night…" he swallowed. "When you won't be able to stop me or give me guilt about doing…" he looked away, ashamed at what he admitted to her. "Are you happy I told you now!?"

"Are you serious?" she stared at him in disbelief. "I thought you loved us".

He let out a tired breath, "Please, I do…" he walked back over to her, hold his hands to her face, "Gods I do more than anything else… you and Lloyd both…" the darker brunette, pressing his lips right between her eyes, "What do you think stops me every time I dare to think about doing it? But I know I couldn't live with myself if I _did _hurt you two… and I know as soon as I see Lloyd's little face I will never leave no matter how much of a threat I became".

He couldn't stand to see her green eyes water over with pain or heartache at such thoughts. "I told you I don't care… Remember when we were little and you were first bitten by that snake?! I never left your side and if you leave then guess who's following after you!"

"Don't give me that look and don't you say that Misako… please don't; you don't mean that…" he sighed tiredly, feeling her cling to him all the more. "Please… come on Mimi…" he felt her hug him tighter. "I'm cursed and I don't want to drag you two down with me!" she abruptly let go again and looked at him to see he was getting worked up. "I just need some time to clear my head… I'll… I'll be right back" he turned right around and started walking, she saw he was struggling to breathe.

"Garmadon…" she felt her heart ache as he looked like he was in pain. The light brown haired woman stopped suddenly, leaning against the wall, knees buckling and she looked scared. "Oh gods…" she saw him practically jump and turn around to look at her. "I…" she didn't to say anything for him to tell what was happening. "Ah!" she let out a cry. "Garmadon… Garmadon please help me…" she started crying again.

He turned right around, running to hold her up so she wouldn't fall over and hurt herself or something... so much for calming down and clearing his head for an hour or so. "I have you…" he told her, guiding her to the couch to sit down for a moment. "I'm here…" she leaned against him, heavily breathing as she clenched forward in pain. "You're going to have to get up to get to the car though Mimi…"

The front door suddenly opened and Wu froze, "Oh gosh…" he ran in, not believing such a coincidence was possible. "I suppose luck was on my side when I decided to stop by…" he looked at his older brother who looked more tired if anything. "Well… come on… I'll drive, you sit in the back with her," he sighed, feeling exhausted and it was only four o'clock.

Once they got moving Wu looked back, knowing something was rather off between the husband and wife who normally seemed closer. "Okay… I'm sensing something happened between you two…" he glanced back for a moment to look at them; Garmadon seemed even more distant than the past weeks.

"Garmadon…" Misako heavily breathed, "Garmadon told me he thinks I'd be better… better off without him around," she sobbed between her labor pains. She never felt anything so terrible in her life. _"So this is what regular birth is like…"_

Wu looked back in his seat but heard a honk and just missed a car that was how much he was taken aback by what she said. His brother? Dare to leave the only person that made him happy his whole life? "I… what the hell is right! Why would you even consider that! She's your wife! She's pregnant! Hell man, she's in labor right now in front of you!"

Garmadon squeezed his eyes shut, "I'm just gonna hurt everyone! I knew if I stayed to see the baby then I never would want to leave… I'm sick of everything I touch burning like it's some sick joke! And I never even decided on it! I was thinking about it I said!" he started raising his voice with anger. He felt her lean on him more and held her again tighter, squealing in pain. "Okay… okay…" he turned full attention back to her.

"Quiet!" Misako sobbed more. "Just shut up because I can't take this anymore!" she buried her face in his shoulder, crying her eyes out as it worsened but the two brothers seemed to continued to argue with one another over a hypothetical situation. "Wu if you don't step on it I'm gonna have Lloyd right here and now!" she shouted over them and that made the two shut up and focus on getting her to the hospital faster.

* * *

><p>Namiko was walking out, ready to go on her break when she was nearly knocked over by three people who were in quite the rush by the look of things. She looked up from the floor, moving her brown ponytail back over her shoulder, blinking, "Garmadon and Wu?" she perked up, recognizing the brother's backsides, "Oh no I know what that means!" she quickly got up, sprinting down after them, dodging other nurses and even hurdled over an empty gurney that was in her path. "GUYS!" she waved her hand, trying to catch up.<p>

Wu stopped and looked behind at her with relief, "Namiko… boy I'm happy to see you…" he panted, exhausted from his run. He was still slow as ever by the looks of things.

She scrunched her nose, "You've been at the bar and you were driving weren't you! Again?" she raised an eyebrow. "It smells like your usual… with something else… can you not get drunk or something?"

The other rolled his eyes, "I'm totally aware, I'm really fine, and that's not important at all… Garmadon thinks he'll be better off to Misako if he left her…" he grabbed her by her shoulders.

Her mouth dropped open and she clenched her teeth, rolling her sleeves up as she marched right inside, "Is he frikken serious!? Is he still angsting about Ella?! Because I will bitch slap that boy for daring to pull that shit on my best friend! Garmadon!" The red eyed ninja sighed loudly as he attempted to console his wife who didn't want him to leave her side even for a minute at this point; everyone seemed to yelling his name out of anger today.

Namiko stood on her tip toes and even then she was very much shorter than him. "How freaking dare you! How dare you _think_ about abandoning her when all she ever did was sacrifice herself for you! You are not a frikken curse so stop being mister angsty pants and thinking you're doing her a favor by leaving her! You need each other more than ever you dipshit! You feel awful still?! OKAY! But why do you have to take it out on your own wife?!"

The pale skinned one flinched as the younger nurse flung profanity at him and looked back to his wife upon mentioning her, hyperventilating as she sat on the bed, looking terrified at him. "I know…" he quietly said, looking back to their friend, eyes watering.

"DAMN RIGHT!" she shouted again, louder if that was possible, calming down a bit when Wu gripped her shoulders. Namiko was never a boisterous person so it surprised everyone when she went off like that at the much taller man.

Misako shuddered and let out another loud cry, "I'm about to give birth here!" She snapped her head back, face red and eyes bloodshot from crying as the others in the room seemed to ignore that fact.

The two ended the dispute right away and tried to help her ease into laying back but it wasn't exactly working, "I'll be right back with the doctor…" Namiko hurried out, narrowing her eyes as she looked at Garmadon next, giving him the "I have my eye on you" gesture.

"I'm such a curse aren't I?" he closed his eyes and held a hand to his face as he leaned, resting his elbows on the edge of her bed. "Maybe it was best that I did as dad said and hid away before I fell in love with you… I can't…" He felt Misako's shaky hand grip his, still trying to comfort him even though it should have been the other way around. He stood, kissing the top of her head and turned around, mind going in a billion directions.

Wu stepped over, "Shut it… you're self loathing is not helping you or her any…" his brother was about to snap off at the younger but the blonde just flung his arms around his sibling in a hug that was probably a bit long overdue. The older was surprised by the gesture. "Did you know that when the spell was hit that Kasai and I fought one another? We messed each other up quite a bit… we forgave one another… Crevan and Tanaka… brothers like we are… they attempted to kill each other as well… they even drew swords… you were not the only one brother who took a sword out! So you can't even hate on yourself for that!" the blonde was starting to get worked up as well.

"I know you were just _thinking_ about leaving but it's still not a good thing to think about. Misako loves you… not me… so if you're thinking that I should be the one to care for her… then you need to rethink things… she's right there behind you… she's scared and in pain… I'm sure your baby is too, and so are you… she doesn't want you to leave and I'm sure you really don't want to either… you think all of this you're feeling is your sole burden to carry… asking for help is okay too you know but you don't even do that…"

_"__Pride… just like dad whether both would admit to it or not…" _he thought to himself.

His green eyed wife was still sitting up, choking on her sobs and he walked back over, not caring what was going to happen. "Come on…" he quietly told her, helping her ease down at last, taking her hand again. "You're going to be just fine… okay?"

She looked up with her bloodshot eyes, whimpering even though the contraction settled because her body still throbbed. She squeezed his hand as a response and he weakly smiled at his gentle words with a shaky nod. He gave just a little bit of a smile back, "I'm sorry I ever thought about leaving the only person I ever loved by the way…" he felt her squeeze his hand more in response.

Now that that emotional drama was all done and settled, they had a whole new terror to face; actually having Lloyd.

**Title partially inspired by Taylor Swift's song "Stay Stay Stay" haha... I feel your pain Garmadon... bottling up all that emotion and thinking that you're bothering people by asking for help and stuff... I'm sorry my baby for making people yell at you... I just wanna hug him like what Wu did...**

**So late on this update... man... been feeling not so good emotionally I guess so I actually haven't been on the computer at all in general. I'm kind of happy I put Falling Inside the Black on Hiatus for a bit... **

**So thanks for reading :) Love you guys, see ya later ^w^ **

**~Mar**


	78. Together at Last

All extra emotional issues aside, the couple was still rather painfully on edge, you would be too if you were in the delivery room in labor. "I'm scared…" Misako panted, feeling the pain come back with full force. "Garmadon I'm really scared…" more tears leaked from her eyes.

Wu quietly watched on at the two who seemed to forget that he was even in the room with them like the third wheel he always seemed to be. This time he didn't mind it so much, he was more than happy to stay quiet and have this moment to themselves. _"Of everything we've faced… she scared of this?"_ he thought to himself, then again, she probably hadn't suffered anything close to this other than back years ago with their daughter.

The red eyed man nodded a little, "I know you are love…" he moved her damp hair from her eyes and gave a small smile. "But you're going to be okay… just watch…" he rested his head on her shoulder, holding her hand, brushing his thumb over her knucles.

"And back…" Namiko came back in by herself. "I don't care what they say I'm doing this… by myself if I must" the brown eyed girl rolled her sleeves up with a determined and peeved look on her face.

"What are you talking about?" Wu was right behind her and Garmadon lifted his head from where he was just resting it.

"Someone else came in just before you apparently and we're short today… convenient right?" she quickly explained with just a hint of sarcasm, "No worries… I'm not needed elsewhere and I've delivered a couple kids in the last few months back in Ignacia so I'm experienced enough," Namiko told the brothers so they would panic more. "Well come on, Wu get in if you wanna come in and shut the door and be useful or something!" she barked at the blonde who shakily obeyed. "Now whenever you're ready Mimi, you're dilated enough and he's right there".

Wu almost regretted coming in as soon as it started for real. He never had seen someone give birth and to be honest, hearing and seeing it firsthand? It kind of made him sick to his stomach which was off because he had seen just as much on the battlefield. He was truly impressed at how his brother didn't crack or anything and he was watching the whole time though, another thing the older was kind of better at.

"I'm gonna pass out…" Misako closed her eyes, feeling exhausted already after just a few pushes.

"I will dump cold water on you," Namiko looked up for a brief moment as she said it very matter of fact and knowing the fiery young nurse, she would carry through with that threat, "The head's crowning… so come on, this will be over soon Mimi," she patted her foot.

Determined groaning came from the back of the woman's throat as she tried to do as her friend instructed. She had one child before, granted it was years ago but she didn't remember it being this difficult. "Alright… getting there…" she smiled a little seeing the head inch out more and she pulled her hair out of her way, knotting it up more.

"Eerrgh," Misako's face was red from all the work she was doing. "Am I done _yet_?" her voice almost failed her as she squeezed her husband's hand harder as she felt him gently kiss her forehead.

"It ain't over till you hear a baby crying!" Namiko snapped back, keeping an eye on things. "Okay here we go now," she encouraged as it inched out more. "Most of the hard part's over," she tried to sound positive about it at least knowing her friend was quite stressed.

"Misako…" Garmadon moved her light brown fringe from her forehead. "I said it already but I'm still sorry for earlier… I shouldn't have been so distant the past couple of weeks…" he quietly told her. "Just get through this okay? I thought your couldn't wait to hold our little boy?" he smiled weakly. She opened her watery, emerald eyes and started at it again.

Wu didn't count the seconds but it felt like forever as he listened to the one he loved scream and whimper through it all. She was now propped up by her elbows while Namiko continued to talk her through it, he gave her props, ever since what happened with her father, she learned to remain completely calm in any medical situation, she really had grown up to be brave.

"Okay…" Namiko had grabbed a small blanket, "Two more pushes is all we need, okay?" she tiredly asked the older woman. Garmadon was pretty much keeping silent at her side for the most part, kissing her face every so often and quietly encouraging her.

"ARGH-"

It was like the thick air in the room that everyone was suffocating under was cleared as soon as the baby screamed for the first time in his new life. Misako's elbows gave out and she fell back against the pillow, holding a hand to her forehead. "My baby…" she weakly said in relief, more tears spilling from her green eyes, but happy ones.

Namiko quickly wrapped him in the blanket, gently wiping his red face and gave him over to Garmadon first, being he was the only one in the room not looking like he was going to pass out completely, and she went to go wash her hands and take care of the rest of clean up while Misako was practically limp.

"Lloyd…" Garmadon looked at the crying baby he was holding with endearment. "Shh my little one…" he told the newborn lovingly. Misako almost didn't recognize his voice as he cooed at the baby like no one was watching him not be his normal, callous self.

Namiko looked back at Wu who looked to be out of it as he sat in the chair, staring wide eyed at the ceiling like he just witnessed something truly horrifying. "Gonna pass out like an old lady Wu?" she smirked devilishly. He looked over at her and narrowed his eyes at the snarky young woman, still unable to speak.

Misako was crying more, seeing Garmadon cradle the baby like what he did with Hope when they brought her home. She managed to sit up against the pillows slightly, feeling her pain dull away into minor throbbing. She wanted to see the baby but didn't quite want to lose the happiness she saw in his eyes.

"You're such a beautiful baby… you have your mommy's eyes…" he cooed more as the infant's crying started to die down at the gentle tone. "That's right… I'm going to protect you from every bad guy in the world… you're going to be safe…" he kissed his forehead. "I'm not going to let the same thing happen to you as it did to your sweet sister…"

He then noticed his wife who sat with a warm smile watching him and he looked down at the little life they spent so long to try and make. Garmadon gently passed their son to her and she held him close to her, "My little baby Lloyd…" she sniffed. "You are so loved… and we'll do whatever we need to do to protect you from anything that would take you from us…"

Wu walked over to get a better look at the whimpering infant, "So… what… what did you name him…?" he quietly asked, not really wanting to disturb this little family moment.

"Lloyd…" Misako swallowed. "Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon…"

"Like… Ella's last name…?" he dared to question further and his older brother nodded his head. "That was a nice thing to do…" he smiled a little. "I like it… it… it sounds nice altogether…" he nodded more. "I'm gonna go sit outside for minute… you two should… just be alone for a bit…" he quickly left, holding a hand to his head while Namiko also stayed out of their way.

Garmadon looked down, "I am so sorry for everything I said…" he looked her in the eye.

She held a hand to his face and shook her head, "Well now that you've seen our baby… do you really want to leave at all?"

"Not one bit," he smiled kissing her red and wet face several times while she tiredly giggled at his love and affection towards her. "Never… as long as I live will I never leave you both." she wrapped an arm around him tightly while keeping a holding on newborn Lloyd. He returned the half hug and sat on the edge of her bed, letting the tiny baby grasp his finger while his wife rocked him a little bit, both parents cooing and making promises to their new little one.

Misako looked back down at Lloyd and rested her head on her husband's shoulder, holding him to her chest as he dozed off. There they were; they were all fine; and together at long last.

* * *

><p>"Well; tell them congratulations for me," Rose smiled wide, on the phone with Wu. "Okay I gotta go now," she looked over at an assistant who brought in more files for her to look at. "Okay… take care Wu, I'll come by sometime this week and see the little cutie for myself," she hung the phone up. "Sheesh… who knew quitting my desk job for museum work would be so… busy…"<p>

"Well you are doing all of Misako's work too being she's on maternity leave," the young woman with red brown hair and amber eyes plopped down. "Frankly I like having another girl around…"

"Yea well do you do anything but sit around and eat the donuts Sonia?" Rose was looking at her computer screen, typing away.

The thirty two year old shrugged with a smile. "Yea maybe… it depends… I'm a bit of a slacker," she chuckled, "I mean, even Danny takes better care of our little girl," she kicked her feet up on the desk her friend was working on. "But right now, it really is my break time," she smirked.

The brown eyed woman shook her head and stood from her chair, "Well then I'll just get this to Mr. Wilson myself," she walked out of the office off to the left of the museum's lobby, folder in hand. On her way through she spied a man looking around. It was a rather quiet and slow day but she wondered why he was hanging out in the lobby. "Hey, can I help you?" she asked, seeing no one was at the information booth.

The light brown haired man looked over his shoulder, surprised someone was addressing him. Rose frowned; he had an eye patch over his right eye and the left she could see was an emerald green color.

"Yes actually," he turned to face her fully. "I'm looking for Misako Alexander, she works here right?"

"Well I only just started working here but she's one of my best friends… she's Misako Garmadon now however and is out on maternity leave for the next few months, just had a baby last night and I doubt she's up for any meeting," she informed him. If he knew Misako, she never mentioned a guy like this before. "I can take your name and tell her you stopped by…?" she offered, not entirely sure how to read the man in front of her, though, he did look rather familiar, or at least reminded her of someone she new.

"Hehe, well I much rather just have her address," he held his smile. "You see my name is Ronin Alexander and trust me; it has been quite a long time since I saw Mimi".

**Hehe since this weekend I made my plans of what to do next. Before I played Shadow of Ronin I had no idea where to take this story beyond this chapter... I wanted something but didn't really know what... I wanted to do something with Hatsu, but that was kind silly what I was planning though I may or may not use her again later on. **

**This chapter was hard to write... Namiko being a badass nurse... and Wu? Well I kind of took the line about faint from The Last Airbender series hehe... seen that episode; The Serpent's Pass? Sokka fainted... **

**So thank you so much for reading! **

**~Mar**


	79. My Brother, My Enemy

Misako smiled as she nursed the tiny infant who was only three days old. The new parents were lounging around in bed though it was past noon. Nothing could brighten Garmadon's day up other than their newborn baby he had come to adore moments after hearing him cry in the delivery room. Misako knew this being he was actually volunteering to get up in the middle of the night to console the newborn when most other men with anger management issues would walk out or overreact.

"You still look tired," Misako glanced over at her husband who just woke up from his nap.

"Meh, so do you," he mumbled into his pillow, not even looking at the mother of his child. "He won't sleep longer than four hours at a time… besides… how I'm the one needing more sleep when he wakes the both of us up? You were the one pushing him out of your body for hours…" he grouchily asked.

The green eyed mother saw Lloyd was done and gently rubbed his back to burp him, kissing his delicate head lovingly. The new family heard a knock at the door and Misako saw Garmadon was nowhere near close to getting up let alone being fully awake, so, after readjusting her night shirt strap, she bundled Lloyd up again and made her way downstairs to answer the door, somewhat expecting Rose, Wu, or any of their other friends to be standing there.

Her smile faded rather quickly when she saw who was there instead.

"Hey there Mimi! Been a while! My you've gotten pretty, though you look rather tired," the man chuckled.

Her eyes widened, a little scared as she tried to shut the door but his hand caught it, pressing it back more to open, just as strong as the female ninja. "No… please no…" she held Lloyd protectively to her chest. "Not now… you were long gone… why now!?" she held her forehead, distressed.

Her husband heard her well enough and quickly came down the stairs. "Misako… who…?" he stared at the man who had come in, still dazed from his nap before, "He…"

"Ronin…" she swallowed. "My older brother…"

"I don't remember you ever having a brother! And I thought we knew everything about one another!" Garmadon looked back to his wife. "Why didn't you ever tell me!?"

The one called Ronin looked at the two, "Oh so this is your husband, your friend said you were married… a Spinjitsu master, geez you lucked out… you grew up with him right? Bet it was nicer than boarding schools… oh and you have a newborn… your friend Rose said you were on maternity leave… took forever to find you even with her help. Looks like I'm an uncle though," he chuckled, walking towards them more.

The younger sibling grimaced and held her baby away from him. "Don't you touch Lloyd or me!" she snapped, backing up against her husband who was still rather stunned, "Just because I'm tired and a little weak doesn't mean I can't take you down Ronin! Just like old times…"

"That's my little sis; always the feisty one," the light brunette chuckled once more, folding his arms across his chest. "So… what have you been up to these days? I mean besides getting laid? From my understanding you would have had two other older children by now… Rose was generous with information… she was surprised when I said I was your brother but it isn't _that_ hard to believe right? Shame she doesn't know the real history between us unlike the lies I told her to get her to help me find you."

Garmadon squeezed her shoulders, "Dead" he answered for her and her brother blinked, registering for a moment he was going back to the question. "The other two are dead…" he was quiet, looking down at the sleeping Lloyd that was their whole world.

"Just… just what do you want?" she was on the brink of tears as she tried to look him in the emerald eye that matched hers.

"Oh I just stopped by for a friendly visit… I'll be seeing you though little Mimi," he ruffled her messy brown hair and slowly walked out. "You look a little tired what with your kid and everything so I won't disturb you as of now… we'll be meeting again very soon though… I promise you that!" he laughed loudly and left.

As soon as he was gone Garmadon guided her to the couch and made her sit next to him, "Looks like I haven't been the only one who's been keeping "secrets"… Misako?" he asked, brushing his thumb over the couple of tears that had started to drip down her cheek.

"Alright… his name is Ronin… and I just wanted to do nothing but forget about him…" she sat back, holding Lloyd to her chest. "He's five years older than me… and he was a very mean and… evil boy back when I knew him… one of many reasons I loved staying at the monastery when we were little was because I could get away from him…

"Ronin and I were never all that close… mom and dad eventually sent him off to that Darkly's School being they had no better idea what to do with him… he was kicked out of every other boarding school they tried to send him away to. He had… an unusual gift my brother… to manipulate people's memories…"

"What do you mean by manipulate?" Garmadon asked, seeing she was concerned a lot about that.

"I saw him very few times when I would go back home for a couple of weeks at a time between my parent's expeditions… the occasional visit to the schools to see him… he was always fascinated with ancient artifacts much like I am… so much I thought we could meet on common ground and actually be friends… but he didn't like them for the same reasons I did it turned out… I was a historian and him? Well… he kept making all the bad turns down the road, he had taken off not long after I got word about mom and dad's death… it was… well… you know… the… night we…"

"Right…" he blushed at the memory of their 'scandalous' little encounter the night of her nineteenth birthday that made them promise to be with the other always.

"It was one reason I was upset, because he took off and never went to the funeral… guess I should have seen that coming… Personally I didn't care and thought I would never see him again… all these years… I wonder how much stuff in the news he was behind in all honesty… relics were stolen left and right from other joint museums along the country… but did you see the ring he had on?" she wiped her eye. "It had an obsidian stone… that stone has the power to amplify the control of people's memories… take away, change… give… they're all horrible and I'm happy they're long since seen in Ninjago… until now of course… very few people have actually become noble masters and protectors by using that power…"

"Well what would your brother want with you now?"

"I don't know honey…" she leaned against him, burying her face in his shoulder while he put an arm around her, "I just know… he's planning something bad… he needs me probably because I know all about artifacts and ancient languages and culture…"

Garmadon hugged her and the baby tightly, "I made a promise to protect the two of you from any harm… and I plan to keep it". He tilted her head up, "I'll slay that rat if he tries to touch you two," they shared a kiss and Lloyd started to whine again, his father taking him in his arms with a small smile.

"I love you so much…" she closed her eyes, feeling a little bit better, though still uneasy about the next time she would see Ronin. If she remembered anything about him, he was very insistent and would poke away at you until he got what he wanted.

* * *

><p>Ronin mysteriously vanished like ghost over the next month like he never even existed, but the last conversation with him was still fresh in his sister's mind. The only thing she could think of was why he wanted her "help". He was smart, just like her… unless he came across something he just couldn't solve that she most likely could.<p>

For once, it looked like it was Misako who was having a war with demons from the past instead of Garmadon.

"This is gonna drive me crazy… what does he want!?" she growled to herself as she held Lloyd to her chest. It was the only thing in her head. "Lloyd, what do you think?" she asked her sleeping baby who just yawned in response. "Yea I know… trust me your uncle's a psychopath… he just has a good way of hiding it…" she mumbled bitterly.

Moments later, Garmadon walked in with a not so happy look on his face as well. "There's been a break in at Kryptarium prison…" he told her. "An inmate was kidnapped and they don't know who it could be".

"I do…" she chewed her lip a bit, "I bet it's him…" his wife sighed loudly and leaned back more on the couch. "So when are we leaving?" she asked, shifting over to lean on the armrest of the couch.

"We?" he blinked back. "I'm going… you're staying here with Lloyd," he was surprised she wanted to even be involved in this. He knew she was afraid of her brother; why put herself in harm's way if she knows he'll be looking for her next?

The green eyed ninja stood up with a stubborn look on her face, "I'm going and that's final!" she shouted, making Lloyd whimper. "Sorry baby…" she quietly told him, bouncing him a little. "But you're not going to keep me from going; I'll take Lloyd with me if I have to".

"And there you go being the thickheaded, indignant leader you are…" Garmadon looked more or less pissed off now. "Tanaka's going down there with Wu and I'm going too, but you are not. I want you hang out at Kasai and Namiko's or someplace where you're not at the prison, and not at home by yourself".

Her face turned red as she felt angrier than any anger her husband was showing her at the moment, "I know how my brother works, you're going to need me there, or do you wanna be chasing your tails because Ronin will have you all end up doing that!" she snapped back at him.

"I said you're staying out this one you stupid woman!" he shouted louder that her, eyes glowing brighter with frustration.

She slumped down a little and flinched at the sudden outburst, looking scared for only moment. Both parents were taken away from their argument to try and hush their son who was now screaming and crying. "Shh… Lloyd, it's okay…" Misako quietly murmured to the infant, glancing up unhappily at her husband who made him cry in the first place, also feeling a little hurt herself.

He backed off even more, though his son was now quieted down again and looked away from the two of them. "This is what I was talking about that day…" he mumbled. "I still don't have it under control…" he wiped his eyes that stopped glowing.

Misako let out a heavy sigh, feeling even more tired now, "Maybe if you just gave in to the fact some things are out of your control… you won't react like that," she scrunched her nose, not fully angry but still a little hurt. "I'm going," she told him again and walked out of the room before he could even get the chance to say one word to her.

Now he started feeling the guilt of yelling at her as he slowly followed her into the nursery to try and apologize but she stopped and looked at him, "I know you didn't mean that just now…" she told him. "But I understand that I can't stand up to him on my own, but I'm also not letting you stand up by yourself to him _for_ me… we'll drop Lloyd off for a couple of hours in Ignacia while we're at Kryptarium".

"Alright… that sounds good…" he kept his mouth shut, not wanting to shout at her again.

**Alrighty... this is a fun arc so far. I have up to chapter 82 written! And I'm bringing in 4 elemental masters from season 4! Who wants to take some wild guesses? Hint; Garmadon makes mention of them from his past when telling the ninja about the different masters. **

**Also I had this cool idea that since there are amber masters who absorb, let's have "obsidian" masters who manipulate memories! So that's what Ronin is... and I'm so excited to unveil more stuff OwO **

**And look, Garmadon's starting to break... well... Lloyd's about a month and half old now... it's gonna happen soon ;-; you can tell I'm willing to drag this out right? Gosh you're probably happy I'm doing that... oh I plan on making your feels hurt like they've never hurt before...**

**Oh and in other news, I make plans to do Ninjago Disney Princess spinoffs (yes I plan on redoing Frozane. This time, with Skylar as Hans because that's even better) also I hope to do Big Hero 6 with them haha... eventually I'll get to all of it...**

**Thank you so much for reading :D**

**~Mar**


	80. Shadow of Ronin

Garmadon was awkwardly sitting on the passenger's side while his shorter wife was not so happy in the driver's seat, stealing mad looks at him still after hours of deciding to go. The two had dropped Lloyd off to Namiko being it was her day off and pretty much the only person they would trust to look after their month old baby, it's not like they would be that long anyways by the sound of things.

"Why do you always do this?" Garmadon leaned against the window, looking back at her. "Why do you always think you're the only person who knows what's best!?"

"Because I'm smarter than you," she bluntly told him, it wasn't exactly lie. "I'm not a fan of sitting my ass and being lazy when there's something more important to do…"

"I thought nothing was more important that Lloyd," he shot back.

She turned her head, "My brother's a mad man who can steal people's memories or do even more terrifying things to a person… I'm not going to let you have your memories taken from Lloyd and me! I'm your partner, not just your wife!" she sounded upset again. "If you don't have me to watch your back then you're better off dead".

"Ouch…" he plainly said.

"Besides… who knows what goes on in Ronin's head… for all we know he could want to screw with me and try and hurt Lloyd. So I need to stop him-".

"Pfft, why you may I ask?" the dark brunette straightened up, almost taking offense at that.

Misako laughed rather loudly but it was dry and sarcastic, "Oh you're one to ask that question… I'll admit to being one to take on a lot of burdens but it seems it'll take too much to have you admit that you bottle everything up and never ask for help yourself with your problems…" she looked out the window to see the massive prison on their left. "Now come on… I don't wanna be here all day…"

* * *

><p>The pair got out of the car and stepped inside to find Tanaka and Wu already there. "Wait… where's Lloyd?" Wu blinked, seeing his brother and sister-in-law both show up and their son nowhere in sight.<p>

"With Namiko for a couple of hours," Misako answered, "Now come on… I have some… explaining to do on a theory about this…" she let out a breath, about to recap what happened and what she told her husband about Ronin as they walked down the line up of cells, some with familiar faces being they were past enemies now incarcerated for terrorizing Ninjago.

They were all here from some poor Skulkin saps to other magical wizards and beings like Cardinsto and Tosho. Misako would feel better if they had thrown other villains like Sigan, Gahrann, and Hatsu in cells like these but that was a mission for another day.

Tanaka looked into the empty cell that looked to be inhabited recently by a prisoner, "This is the one… a man named Hibiki Karu was thrown in here… apparently he was a thief and a hoarder of… obsidian weapons when he was a teenager and was thrown in again for petty thieving or something… it's not very important right now" the taller ninja looked back to Misako, "And now what you say, it's starting to make a lot of sense if Ronin has unique abilities that can be amplified by such weapons…"

"Great…" Misako was hoping it wasn't her brother to be honest but sure enough here they were, trying to figure out why he would want the man who was thrown in prison. "So… an obsidian weapon user or… at least an "obsidian master"… might have the same abilities as Ronin then… Hibiki is one of them?"

"Excellent deduction as always little sis!" A loud voice echoed throughout the entire room. The four ninja turned around but the owner of the voice could not be seen. "I knew you were always smarter than me… I figured even with your kid, you would show up here to help investigate, but we'll have to part ways for now yet again… I have some business to take care of!" he laughed and the sound of a grapple hook echoed afterwards and then glass breaking and falling to the stone ground.

The four men and woman ran from the center chamber that had the huge sunroof that was now busted wide open while alarms blared signaling a "breakout". "Damnit!" Garmadon shouted. "Now what!?"

"We wait for Ronin to appear someplace else I guess…" Wu groaned, not wanting to go on a wild goose chase for this guy. "What should we do!?"

They all looked at Misako being she was the leader and this _was_ her brother. "I hate saying this, but we'll just have to wait," she shrugged a little. "For now… I suggest we start doing some research on obsidian weapons and memory abilities". She started walking out. _"Why Hibiki…_ _hmm…"_

* * *

><p>Back in Ignacia, the six old friends were all sitting around the table, Delilah's book before them as they attempted to figure this whole thing before it got out of hand anymore than it already was.<p>

"Okay… one of the shorter entries but here it is…" Namiko found the page they were looking for.

_Obsidian weapons; Masuta and I believe we have found them and they now reside with my older sister in the little river town Sakura Falls being she is a kind and wise student of the obsidian arts. Scythe, sword, nunchucks, fans, chigiriki, sais, whip, bow, spear, and the most notorious of all of them; the glaive. As far as I know, there are only these ten weapons. _

_Many few have the ability to dream or mind bend. This was taught by the gargoyles, the guardians of our sleep and the dreams we have, old and wise beyond anyone's understanding. They made ten weapons of obsidian to amplify the high elders' powers of the mind. It was only of recent years that a strange young boy named Hibiki Karu hoarded them all after searching for them all and stealing them from the ten high gargoyles who used them, thank the gods we have apprehended him._

_It was very odd. Hibiki kept shouting something along the lines of "he tricked me". Who, I don't really know. All he kept shouting was "Ronin" as an answer. Ronin though is a term used for samurai in the old days as a group or one who had no lord to serve, but Hibiki says it was just one person, a boy possibly his age. Masuta does not know either what he means but it doesn't matter, this has been handled and we need to get back home to the kids. I really do worry for them and their future; they'll likely inherit quite the mess if this resurfaces in the years to come. _

"So this was obviously still when we were young, before mom died…" Wu frowned. "It _is_ close to the end… she must have finished the book just before she died and hid it away for Misako to find".

Kasai read the entry over quickly, "It also says this Ronin guy and Hibiki were cahoots one way or another… Mimi, ya said that your brother was a bad kid right?" Misako nodded in confirmation. "Any one reason why he was shipped off to Darkly's? You said he was like… thirteen or so, yea?"

The green eyed one let out a groan, holding a hand to her face in realization, "I don't believe this… my parents completely covered this up from me… I didn't know he had done something like this!"

_"__Why the hell didn't they just throw him into juvenile prison!? This doesn't make any sense!" _She growled to herself but decided maybe an answer would reveal itself to her if they read further into this.

"Also it sounds like Masuta and Delilah didn't know you had a brother…" Namiko added in that odd fact. "I think they would put two and two together just by the name Hibiki gave them…"

"If you had a terrible child who always got into serious trouble and could have been arrested for stealing artifacts and such while you're well known archeologists, would you want people to know about them?" Tanaka posed the question. The other five looked around, tilting and nodding their heads as a response to that. He was right.

"Ugh, not to mention my parents barely had enough time for us at all…" Misako sounded disgusted with thinking about how rarely was home with both parents but closed her eyes and shook her head, "And he never went to prison because he manipulated my parents memories just enough to… send him to Darkly's…" Suddenly this was making a lot more sense than weeks earlier. "That's it… that has to be the explanation to everything…"

Everyone just nodded a little; it was all she had to go on. "Well come on, here's another entry," she sighed and turned the page again.

Garmadon stopped her though, "Wait… I never realized; some of these entries aren't mom's… I think we just misread… this entry says Diella… and I don't think it's a typo," he blinked and flipped through several pages back, "Look at all of these… Diella… not a lot of them… but still… we have an aunt?" the two brothers exchanged glances of surprise. More secrets kept from them? An earlier entry did say that Delilah gave the weapons to her sister.

"Read," Namiko urged.

_My little sister passed recently so I plan on filling out the rest of the book with the research she said would be needed for the students of her husband, including my nephews. I plan to hide the book away until I can find a way to give it to the girl specified before she died, Misako Alexander. _

_I have hidden the obsidian weapons after I heard of the two boys who stole them from the guardians are still running around. The one named Hibiki is now on parole from juvenile detention, mind askew still from what I do know, and the one he called Ronin years back when trying to detest in court is apparently a student from Darkly's Boarding School. The map to them is under my protection._

On the next page was another entry, years later by the looks of it.

_Ronin came for this scroll. I'm surprised it's been so many years. I coded it though with my magic so that it's all in riddle form in ancient stone language that Ronin will surely not know despite his obsidian powers like me. He claimed to have a sister though who could read the ancient text. I now realize he is your brother Misako. You two look so alike, especially the eyes from what I have foreseen. I wonder how old you'll be when all of this comes to pass. _

_All of you should come and find me when it does. This old lady could be of some use to you even if you need contacts and allies to help you. For now, I shall finish copying Delilah's research on the last pages along with some notes of my own and then pass it along to you brave ninja._

"So what do we know from this?" Misako drummed her fingers on the table, other arm holding Lloyd as she pondered all of this new information before them.

"You're brother's batshit crazy?" Kasai blinked.

"I mean besides that," she rolled her eyes.

Wu leaned his elbow on the table, "Habiki and Ronin were probably around thirteen, fourteen or so when they stole those weapons… since both have mind powers apparently, as they stole each weapon, they got more and more powerful and that was why they ended up nabbing all the weapons because high elder gargoyles are legendary… if Gahrann gave us trouble, imagine how much stronger they are," he clicked his teeth together.

"And it sounds like Ronin might have done something to Hibiki too being he was the only one that got caught and he sounded like a mad man when trying to explain himself… Ronin could have manipulated his mind a bit…" Namiko continued on. "But before we found this book obviously, Ronin stole the map Diella wrote down and then coded… Man; Ronin has must have been looking for you for long time then…" she looked to the other girl at the table.

"Okay, why is he waiting around for me now and playing a silly game with us? Even after all this time… it sounded like Hibiki was really skittish and paranoid from the medical records the prison nurse showed us…"

"Ronin could just be trying to send a message to us… Regardless," Tanaka interrupted. "We need to go to Sakura Falls and find Diella; she obviously wants us to do that when this problem arose".

"But should we call Rose, Crevan, and Anthony?" Kasai asked. "They _are _a part of the team after all".

"No," Misako answered. "Us six will go to Sakura Falls, but we'll still fill them in on everything else, no need for them to constantly keep dropping out from their own work and families, besides, we haven't done a mission just the six of us in a long while, and we can even bring Kai, Nya, and Lloyd since this should be a peaceful, learning trip for us, no bad guys to fight and put them in harm's way".

"But what about Zane?" Tanaka mindlessly said out loud. Everyone turned and stared at the gray eyed ninja, eyebrows raised. "Oh yes!" he raised a hand to his face. "I forgot to tell you all, not long after we all visited you two when Lloyd was born, I adopted a boy from my home town when I went to visit my cousins".

"That's great!" Wu smiled. "Man, why didn't you tell us until now? How old is he?"

"He doesn't have much memory of when he was younger but he's apparently thirteen from what the foster care said but he's quite tall for his age and mature… they were rather… shocked I wanted to adopt him. They said he was odd but I don't understand what they possibly meant by that".

The other five nervously laughed at his cluelessness. Tanaka didn't see it because he and Zane were more than most likely alike in almost every way.

"Besides the point of taking our kids along, we need to get to Sakura Falls as fast as possible," Garmadon folded his arms on the table. "I suggest tomorrow morning; who's game?"

The others agreed and returned to their homes.

**shabam. I just came up with back story stuff about Hibiki and Ronin's relationship (I mean, why would Ronin be after him in the game? I never understood why him... it made sense for the ninja to find him, but why Ronin's goons? ya know?) And also some more personal ideas about Gahrann the Dreamer's race of beings.  
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**Oh and look a threw in my thing with Tanaka adopting Zane. Your arguments are invalid, they go perfectly together since Julien's technically gone at this point... IDK for how many years but who care's really? **

**This arc is so much fun... and Diella's in the next chapter. I don't wanna spoil a lot but I'll give you the chapter headings: "The Obsidian Master" and "Elemental Roommates" and yes guys, I promise some young elemental masters from season four will be making appearance. (and btw, remember, Garmadon seemed to know a few of them... hehehe)**

**Thank you so much for reading! I know this story is so long now... I mean seriously... My dad says I should have broken this into at least two parts but it didn't feel right XD See ya later then.**

**~Mar**


	81. The Obsidian Master

The whole way up, the single question that could be heard was "Are we there yet?" coming from a chanting Kai and Nya in the back seat who had literally nothing else better to do; it was becoming regrettable to even suggest they take the kids along on this one.

Wu had the lovely task of driving while Misako grew irritated as she tried to get Lloyd to stay asleep, a little hard to do with hyperactive toddlers in the car making a racket while their poor parents tried to get them to settle down, even for ten minutes.

"At least Tanaka's boy is quieter than those two…" she mumbled just loud enough for Garmadon next to her could hear it. He quietly chuckled as he kissed her cheek, an arm around their baby, also wishing he would just go to sleep and ignore all the noise going on around him.

Hours later the not so merry family of ninja had arrived at the small lake town. "So this is it… Sakura Falls…" Namiko held onto Nya, looking at huge lake with a cascading waterfall on the far end cliffs of white rock, sending ripples through the entire, clear lake. Out of the rocks and the surrounding ground were huge cherry blossom trees whose pink petals dotted the lake in large amounts. Nya's eyes seemed to light up at the sight.

"Well it certainly lives up to its name, doesn't it?" Kasai shrugged; holding on to Kai's raised hand after he waddled out of the car. "Alrighty, let's go then… whose house do you think it is?" He counted at least fifty, not counting shops and other buildings. It wasn't a very busy town but people were out and about it seemed who were looking at them. "I guess they don't exactly get that many tourists… huh?"

"Uh… How about that one?" Misako pointed to one off the main walk. It was painted dark purple and by the look of things, the drapes were closed on all the windows. It stood out a lot from the other brightly painted homes surrounding it.

The six ninja went up to the door and Garmadon and Wu glanced at one another before finally ringing the bell, wondering who and what they might find inside. Who knew if Diella was even still alive! It was years ago she wrote in that book! Not to mention if she was Delilah's _older_ sister.

Moments later, the door swung open at last and a cranky looking woman with silver laced blonde hair that tumbled over her shoulders and down her back looked at them, then the many others behind the two brothers. "What do you want?" she raised an eyebrow, suspicious of their business here. "No one ever visits my house and you're not from around here… are you?"

Misako stepped forward more and managed to pull out the book from her bag with her free arm and showed the cover to her, "Delilah's book… we're the masters of Spinjitsu," she meekly said under the old woman's scrutinizing gaze.

Diella had the icier blue eyes compared to her younger sister's indigo ones which started tearing up at seeing the book. "Come on in then… my… brought the whole clan with you then? Didn't ya?" she manages a small chuckle.

"We actually have three others in the city that couldn't make it… but… we had no one to watch the kids really," Misako uneasily chuckled, not exactly knowing how to read this strange woman. "You're Diella then? An obsidian master?" she asked, realizing the blonde never answered.

"Yes yes," she turned the lights on more once inside. "I've been waiting years for this day to come… glad to know I managed to land the book in your capable hands after all…" she re-fixed the drapes so they remained shut and then she locked the door.

"While my sister decided to prance off with the First Spinjitsu Master going on adventures and such… I remained here in our hometown to further study obsidian magic and such in order to keep problems like this in check… shame I failed… Lilah and I… we both were very fond of dragons…" she had a faint smile and old memories. "Hers was Kage… mine was a lovely green dragon named Itchii who was Kage's sister… I hope that old girl's doin well… after Chen invaded the only safe part of the isles, who knows what became of those gorgeous beasts!"

Garmadon and Misako exchanged surprised glances at that information, finding it rather funny. "So you came to seek my help did ya? Well come on, tell me who ya'll are!" Diella turned her head to look back at the six ninja who she was leading inside her home. "Oh wait!" she stood upright and moved the carpet back to reveal a hatch, "Little place that runs under the water… storage unit I guess you could call it," she looked down "Ikari!" Diella suddenly called.

"Hmm?" a voice hummed back as a response. "You callin' Dee?" Someone else popped up; a man about Diella's age with round glasses. "Oh! Guests…" he pulled himself up and extended his hand. "Ikari, Diella's husband, nice to meetcha! I dabble in light powers myself".

"Well now, finally we get to meet our nephews!" Diella elbowed him with a smile.

Ikari looked the two brothers over first, "Oh… Lilah's boys… never officially met her but heard she was something alright, Dee said she foresaw you… wish I had that power, hehe," he looked away while chuckling, kicking the hatch shut and fixing the carpet. "Here about the obsidian weapons then?"

"Yes, well I'm Misako, Ronin's younger sister," she painfully had to mention. "Kasai and Namiko, Tanaka, and then you obviously must know something about Wu and Garmadon…" she looked at the tired baby she carried. "And these are our kids…"

"Oh my gosh you two are just as cute and precious as you were in those pictures my sister sent to me all those years ago!" she pretty much pinched Garmadon and Wu's cheeks like the typical overly doting family member no one really likes. "Gosh how old you must be? Wu's the oldest yea?" she looked at the blonde. "Ikari! Aren't they just dolls?!" Her husband awkwardly stood while watching her, trying not to laugh at their faces.

"I am!" Garmadon managed to back away. "I'm forty… three years older and he got hit with some age spell forever ago… sheesh lady… you got some grip…" he had hoped she wasn't the mushy kind but it looked like he was _very _wrong in this case.

Diella looked at his eyes and nodded, "Ah I see… she always said her oldest was a cursed one… though she still loved you to pieces from the letters she constantly wrote."

Garmadon flinched at that and Misako pulled on his sleeve rather hard, jerking him out of angry thoughts that could have lead to kicking her in the shin or something along those lines, "We don't like to call it that…" she tightly smiled, "he's perfectly fine now since we had the baby… he's the best father ever actually," she kissed his cheek. He was happy for at least some back up from the others on that.

"Huh, would have figured it was Wu's kid by the color of his hair… but it doesn't matter," Garmadon scowled at her silently while it looked more like Misako was trying to pull a ferocious pit-bull back by the collar. "Okay anyways," Misako released him at last when he stopped struggling against her grip.

"Well how about we get business out of the way dear?" Ikari tried to guide her into focusing now. "Then you can embarrass them all you want.

She sighed and plopped down, "You're right; let us talk about something a little more interesting… the powers of the mind… we do have a bit of an issue on our hands, don't we? The kids can play in the back room by the way, no need to bore them with adult chatter," she looked to the parents of the older children who shooed them away.

"In the journal… there are ten obsidian weapons it said… and you hid them and made a map that Ronin stole," Tanaka started while Diella nodded along, Ikari seemed to be intently looking at the journal. "Well he just broke Hibiki Karu out of Kryptarium Prison two days ago… any ideas on what they'll do with him or why he would even need Hibiki?"

"First off, he might need a pawn or something… and then he's coming after her next no doubt," Diella bluntly put it while gesturing to Misako. "She's an archeologist, his sister no less, and can no doubt speak and decode ancient languages and messages…" Misako held a hand to her face.

Diella chuckled, "Ooh you did married a smart one Garmy dear; she does seem like a good match for you! Every stubborn mule needs a smart partner!"

The paler brother blushed so much it looked like bright red in contrast to his very pale skin at a nickname only Misako was allowed to ever call him in private. Wu snickered and he elbowed him in the stomach dissolving that quickly before the others could get the chance to even let out a snort.

"So now…" Diella cleared her throat, "Mind powers… we know some people… all humans… one of them has the ability to manipulate the mind like how Ronin and Hibiki seem to… might even be some distant relative in one way or another only he doesn't exactly waste his time with the art of memory bending because it's forbidden and cruel!"

Ikari laid out a map for them. "He lives all the way in Spinjago City though, he's very wise, and I believe there are other elemental masters who would be keen on making sure obsidian weapons never see the light of day again, there have been too many problems in the past with corrupt gargoyles and such".

"And there's another one who was my son through my first wife," Ikari remembered. "He knows Neuro as well and is a gentle soul… light powers. Allegedly Diella's grandparents were the light and shadow masters, they married other mortals before they married each other… he's the only other light master I know besides myself and I guess you now Wu," he gestured to the blonde. "He should be of help… he's… well he's unique alright…" he ran a hand through his dusty colored hair.

Everyone looked at each other, "Well, can you tell us their names?" Namiko asked.

Diella stood up, "Course my dears," she got out a piece of paper and scribbled several names on them, "I sure they'll be more than happy to help you kids with Ronin, I know many other masters but these three are very good men and should be willing compared to the others".

They all gathered around and looked at the piece of paper at the names the two wrote down for them to visit.

Neuro Janim

Jacob Pevser

Shen Akai

"Obsidian magic is dangerous and I recommend you all hunt down Ronin as fast as possible, waste no time and trust no one; you never know if their memories and minds have been altered by Ronin. Here, take this along too!" Diella walked back in handed what looked to be a black glass orb to Kas and Wu who looked surprised by the object. "That's an obsidian orb, we can talk through it! It's like uh… what do you call those things?"

"Cell phones?" Kasai slowly asked, eyebrow rising. He sometimes forgot people in some towns didn't have quite as much technology as they had the closer you got to Ninjago City. "Uh… thanks…?" Ikari seemed to chuckle a little at his wife's ignorance to technology; he seemed rather the opposite of her, guess that's why it looked as though they really got along.

She opened the door for them with a kind smile on her aging face, "Go on and find those nice young men, they should be more than happy to help you out!" she waved a little. "Shen's Ikari's boy in the case you were wondering! Tell him we said hi!"

"See ya later kids," Ikari smiled a little.

"Good… three hours is plenty of time to spend with her I think…" Garmadon shuddered and held the cheek she pinched earlier while the others laughed. "Come on, she's way too clinging… she's absolutely nothing like mom and you know it _Wu_," he snapped at his younger brother.

"Spinjago City huh?" Misako looked at the paper again. "If they're elemental masters, then maybe Masuta met them before too… we may be the first Spinjitsu Masters he's taught as a team… but these are some of the other descendants of the first elementals like what Ikari said…" She thought aloud as they all started piling back into the car and headed back for the city.

**Sakura falls...? Oh noes, the animes have invaded!**

**Ah family... can't help but hate them sometimes :3 I have a complicated family tree for all of the characters... I should really write it down officially, ya know? Anyways, Ikari and Diella are like... 3 gens of half cousins several times removed so they probably have barely any blood relation in them... idk anymore but it was the best explanation I got to why i do what i do...**

**so... that's right people! You get to see Neuro, Jacob, and our invisible nerd in the next chap! But can you guess our surprise guest? Hint, he's only like... 15 at this point in my storyline :3 Can't guess? well you'll see next week XD**

**Thanks so much for reading :3 Next chapter gets hysterical... in my own head anyways... later!**

**~Mar**


	82. Elemental Roommates

This time, it would just be the six adults going to Spinjago City, save for Lloyd since he was still barely two months old and getting to be more of an attention beggar by the day. Spinjago was between Ignacia and Ninjago City to the east where though it had an old world feel to it, it was bustling with cars and other advancements some cities like Sakura Falls, Yumei, and Yosho Island wasn't exactly up to date on.

"I remember looking for houses here back when we were getting married just because it's not as busy as Ninjago…" Misako remembered, looking around at the tall buildings, though they weren't quite as towering as the ones in Ninjago City, "But this is more or less an industrial kind of town… Let's just go and find these guys then and get home".

After over three hours of actual, good searching, two bathroom breaks, one stop because Kasai wanted to get a bag of chips, and one extra break to nurse Lloyd, they finally found _somebody_ who knew where the first one at least lived; Shen Akai.

"Uh, yea he's… odd… I guess?" a young woman scratched behind her head with a wry smile as she nervously laughed, "No one really sees much of him I guess you could say… but he lives at the end of the road over that way," she pointed in the direction she said. "Last house on the left… he and his roommates all suck though when it comes to fighting at indecent hours". Her smile faltered as she turned away from the bunch.

"Thank you!" Namiko bowed a little and started off with the other five down the road to this elemental master's house.

They at least knew the man who lived here was some kind of relative to Masuta and another they had to find was a master of mind but who the other was, they were totally sure on. The ninja awkwardly stood on the steps of porch, waiting for someone to answer their loud knocking and bell ringing.

At last, the door opened but it took a moment for the others to register there was a pair of glasses floating before them as well as a pair of pants and a shirt. Everyone stared for a moment, Kasai yelping, believing a ghost was before him.

"What do you want?" a voice came from the floating pair of clothes.

"Shen Akai?" Wu dared to ask.

"Oh great… listen I told him to stop playing music but he doesn't stop, it's not my fault-" he sounded like he was rolling his eyes but no one could tell of course being they couldn't see his face. He had stopped though once it sounded like someone was playing a stringed instrument. "Jacob, quit playing that stupid sitar! I can barely ever hear myself think! Do you know how many people complain to me about you playing at all hours?!"

"I need to play it to see you dipshit!" another voice came. A man around five feet tall with black curly hair and dark skin stumbled around with a sitar in hand like what Shen and many others seemed to complain about. He had a pair of sunglasses on and they registered he must have been blind. "Now what is it? Is it the pizza I ordered or not?"

"No," Shen's nasally voice answered, still sounding annoyed. "I would have told you if it was, not yell at you for playing your sitar… and I was just getting to asking who they were! So… who are you guys? You don't look like police or anything," he redirected attention back to the six at his doorstep. Ikari said he was a gently soul… right?

"Hi, sons and students of Masuta and company, your dad married our aunt; we need some help with a thing…" Wu tried to pleasantly grin as he quickly explained.

"Masuta? Oh that stupid…" Shen started, "Yea, I'm some far off relation from a first marriage of the master of light or whatever my dad explained… it's complicated, anyways, yea, Masuta? He never wanted to ask _me_ if I wanted to learn Spinjitsu or something… yea well I don't need him! I unlocked my full potential without him so ha!"

"But you're invisible…" Tanaka blinked, blankly stating.

There was a beat of silence before a whimpering started, "I know! I've been like this for fifteen years! Since I was twelve! I can make my clothes disappear to but I can't make my body reappear! But what does that Spinjitsu master want now!?"

"Uh, well, he's died almost a year ago; we're the ones that need help actually…" Kasai scratched the back of his head. "You're step mom said you can help so can you!?"

This seemed to be getting more awkward the longer they talked to him and Misako passed Lloyd to her husband and stood in front of the others, "My name is Misako, Mr. Akai… my brother's name is Ronin and he once stole a map to all ten of the obsidian weapons… we need to find a friend of yours? His name is Neur-"

Shen's glasses redirected at her to show he was listening now but he had cut her last question off. "Oh gods of Spinjitsu, JACOB!" he turned and the floating pair of clothes ran inside.

"What now!? Is my pizza here _now_?!"

"What?! NO! Someone's hunting down the obsidian weapons! Where's Neuro at!? He needs to know that we're gonna be in deep doodoo!" Shen frantically asked, looking around quickly.

"Oh you mean Mr. "I'm too good to get pizza so I ordered take out instead for myself"? Upstairs doing his shitation!" the sitar player answered grouchily, lounging in a recliner now, instrument at the side table.

"MEDITATION!" a voice from the stairwell shouted. "I hate you all as my roommates… you all are loud and obnoxious… well… Jacob is anyways…" the cold voice mumbled rather audibly. "But I never know if Shen is spying on me or something! It gets creepy ya little neat freak!"

"I am the master of sound you know! I can still hear you no matter how quietly you talk, Nerdo!" Jacob snapped the insult back at the one upstairs.

"Jacob please… we have a situation now!" Shen turned to the shorter, blind man, trying to get everyone back on track of what the real problem was. It sounded like this happened a lot between the three.

Heavy footsteps came down and a young man with thick black hair and sunken eyes appeared, "If I wanted I could give you nightmares for weeks on end, do you know that Pevser?! And it's Neuro! I swear man one more time and I'll smash that sitar in half and you'll go stumbling around with a stick for the rest of your life!"

The students of Masuta stared with wider eyes at this strange sight inside. "So the three we're looking for… they're all roommates…?" Tanaka observed. "They are not very kind to each other for elemental masters who work and live with one another…"

"Mimi, he's whining again," Garmadon complained as their baby boy started up his crying over the loud shouting and arguing by the young men occupying the small house they shared. Once Lloyd started his full blown crying did the three stop and stare at the poor mother who took the baby again.

"Oh I wish I just let Sonia babysit him…" she mumbled as she attempted to quiet Lloyd down again.

The three still remained quiet until Shen spoke up at last, "They said something about the obsidian weapons Neuro… can we help them? Please? My dad and step-mom sent them because they think we can help."

The one they called Neuro sighed and nodded, looking tired, "Sure, why not? I hate to see those weapons fall into such horrific hands."

"Someone say obsidian weapons?!" another voice came and the three groaned collectively. A flash of white flew by and stopped on the couch. "Heyo guys, I at first thought pizza was here but now it looks we got some interesting guests!"

"Can we please stop talking about the pizza?! It will get here when it gets here!" Shen suddenly blurted out, frustrated with the side conversation they were having.

The brunette laughed. "Griffin Turner," he zipped up to the six. "And might I say you are some hot looking ninja…" he elbowed Misako which caused Garmadon to smack the brunette upside the face, knocking his stupid red tinted glasses off.

"Yea; and she's my wife, she's forty, and she's holding a baby for the love of Spinjistu!" he snapped at the teenager. "Back off kid!"

"Sorry about him," Neuro grimaced. "That's Griffin… speed master… and really obnoxious with pick up lines… he's fifteen so what are you gonna do? We promised his grandfather we'd look after him… he's been here a week and I'm regretting it very much so…"

"We all are… it's the only thing we all can agree on!" Shen sighed in agreement with Jacob. Griffin looked mildly offended by this.

"Well sorry to interrupt your family crisis but we have a bigger one to stop," Namiko folded her arms. "For one her crazy madman brother's on the loose, broke a guy out of jail, stole a map from Diella the Obsidian Master, and now he's gonna be after his sister and we can't let him do that".

The four were silent at last and just nodded along, following Namiko's explanation of the situation.

"So what? You want us to help you catch this guy?" Griffin stupidly asked.

"No, them; not you, you little runt," Garmadon pointed at him and the young master of speed glared back at the red eyed ninja. It seemed they would not be very good friends but that wasn't really the point of coming for some help like what Diella said, they needed allies, not friends in his mind.

"Down boy," Misako rolled her eyes, pulling him a bit. "So…" she looked back to the other masters, "Will you help us?" she hopefully smiled at them.

They all looked at one another and the shrugged, "Okay then… looks like we have a job to do as descendants of the first elementals," Neuro nodded and answered for the group.

"Can I come? Pleeease? Can I? Can I?" Griffin zipped around the three, pestering them even more.

"Fine, FINE!" Shen said it just quiet the teenager down.

**Hehe I thought it'd be funny to see these three in their thirties/late twenties taking care of teenaged Griffin... don't judge me you knew that was comedy gold at it's finest. My brother almost pissed himself when I let him read this one. So I used these four being Garmadon seemed to know them best out of everyone and even says he didn't know a lot of people there. **

**So yep... they will be helping out in next few chapters... for some reason I think Griffin had really grown on me during season 4. Shame the masters won't get another appearance most likely in season 5. I should do some kind of one shot of them altogether at like a party or something... that'd be funny. I was debating having Pixal, Skylar, Nya, Seliel, and maybe Toxikita and Camille having a slumber party or something, sound good? XD**

**Thanks for reading! I have the biggest plot twist EVER coming up hahahaha I bet you'll love that**

**~Mar**


	83. Don't Leave Me

Misako sat in the rocking chair, cradling tiny Lloyd lovingly as she tried to rock him to sleep. The only thing that was on her mind however, seemed to be finding her brother and stopping him from getting her to translate everything on the map for him, because she knew he would most likely threaten Lloyd if he got the chance to do that.

_"__Hush little baby don't you cry, listen to mother's lullaby,"_ Misako quietly sang to the whiny infant who must have sensed something bad was going on with his parents and family though he was barely two months old. _"Here it's safe and you'll be fine, don't worry my son, that's not a lie". _She caressed his soft blonde hair.

* * *

><p><em>"<em>_Mom… why didn't you tell us you were dying?" the nine year old felt his mother's weak hand caress his cheek like how she always to did to console him, "Why didn't you tell _me_?" He was even more hurt that his brother knew long before she showed signs of dying and all failed to tell him and even Misako. _

_"__I'm sorry little one…" she gently told him. "I knew you would be so scared and never move on with life if you found out before this past week… Garmadon I'm truly sorry I never had the heart to tell you of my illness… but I love you so much my son…"_

_"__Then stay…" he held her bigger hand in his smaller ones, sniffing and bottom lip quivering as he tried to bite it get it to stop. "Don't die… I don't want you to die…" he was crying more. _

_Misako and Wu were behind him, not saying a word, they had made their peace that this is what was happening and they couldn't change it. Garmadon was the complete opposite; he resisted change greatly and relied on his mother to calm him down as well. He was going to have a real hard time adjusting to everything after she passed on that night. _

_Delilah looked behind her oldest son at the two younger children and they nodded. She was almost gone and they understood that Garmadon needed this time more than the two of them so they quietly made their way out, shutting the door behind them. He didn't even notice that they had done that, his little red eyes were too busy producing more tears. _

_His weak mother tilted his chin up a little so he would look at her, "Hush little baby, don't you fear, it's time for sleep and I'm still here__… __Here it's quiet and there is peace, there is my love for you, it will not cease," she quietly sang to him, like every night since he was born, she watched as he cried more, sad that she could not be with him anymore. _

_"__Don't sing that…!" he tried shouting at her, knowing what was coming, "Don't… don't… you're not dying!" he clenched his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut again, not wanting to look at her pale white skin or glassy blue eyes. _

_"__Darkness won't snatch you, you're made of love, a light burns within you and that can't be touched…" she believed that he wasn't a little monster like what his father thought. She knew in her heart that Masuta wouldn't be able to love their poor Garmadon like how she was able to, he wanted perfection and their oldest son was far from his expected standards. _

"Masuta… don't drive him away… love him as I did… he will be so troubled and he will need love… and guidance… love him as you love our Wu… love the both of them equally and do not compare them to the other… be patient with Garmadon… especially now that I won't be able to watch him grow and care for him and let him know that all will be fine…" _her indigo eyes started drooping as she thought those things to herself as she sang. _"But… he will also have Misako… she will love him as I have…"

_"__Hush little baby… nightmares won't attack…" Garmadon squeezed his eyes shut as he heard her take a slower time now with the last words, "I love you most…" she stopped for another moment and looked up at her eyes that were also watering over, "and that's a fact…"_

_It got quiet after that._

_"__Mommy…?" he asked after of a moment of the new silence. "Mommy!?" he didn't know what to do, he felt sick. _

* * *

><p>Garmadon was leaning against the frame of the door, she didn't even know he was standing right there, watching her love their son. He remembered the song she was singing well enough, though it had very bittersweet memories attached to the lullaby; his mother sang it to him to get him to sleep every night, right up until the night she died; it was her final words to him. He sang it to his daughter every night and it was his final words to her as well.<p>

Misako's green eyes glanced up and smiled a little more as she continued, feeling Lloyd nod off now so she slowly stood up, rubbing his small back before gently laying him down in his crib. "He seems to like your mother's song… only thing that gets him to quiet down for sleep," she felt her husband at her side.

"Hope liked it too…" he held onto the edge of the crib. "As… did I…"

"I always remember hearing her singing it when we were kids… but when I was pregnant with the first baby, and we ran off for that whole week, you taught it to me during that whole time… excited to sing it to the baby face to face… remember that?" she rested her head on his shoulder.

"How can I forget _that_…" he slipped his fingers between hers, folding their hands together tightly.

They slowly left the nursery and went down the hallway to their bedroom, "I hear you humming it most nights when you think I'm still asleep and can't sing it for you… guess it's kind of your safety blanket huh?" she asked while undoing her braid, asking thoughtfully.

"Any memory of my mother is…" he admitted and slipped his shirt off, grabbing for his pajamas in the dimly lit room. "I still wish she was here; Lloyd would have loved her… between you and her… I bet I wouldn't have to suffer from this horrible curse in my blood…" he looked away from his wife.

"You're not cursed," she whispered, hugging him tightly around the waist, "I refuse to believe that… you aren't well… but you're not worse off… I see how you care for Lloyd… any cursed person wouldn't have that much love in their heart… you're different, remember?" he mumbled his response and she laughed, "I love you," Misako pecked his cheek and fell back on her side of the bed. "Goodnight honey".

"Yea… nite…" he mumbled back to her.

Misako had one eye opened as she looked back at her husband who had his back facing her and she smiled a little, knowing he wasn't really going to sleep so the lighter haired woman scooched over and hugged him again, feeling him flinch from her sudden move. He turned to face her though and held her as well when they fell asleep.

* * *

><p>Just like Diella said, the black glassy orb she and Ikari gave the group of ninja let her communicate easily with the ninja. Today, Rose, Crevan, and Anthony joined them in the discussion of their plan to catch Ronin at last.<p>

"Good! I know those boys are rather coarse with one another and may cause mischief in Spinjago, but they're still noble fighters like their ancestors," the obsidian master told them, appearing to not be so surprised at their behavior as the others who met them just the other day. "Now… the hard part; getting Ronin's attention, yes?"

While this conversation was going on in the dining room, Misako was moving several plates that held breakfast earlier as well as papers and that morning's mail off the table her friends were all sitting around. One piece in particular however, slid back onto the table which caught Crevan's attention. "Hey, what's this Mimi?" he picked the flyer up, reading it over, stopping the conversation.

"Oh, that's the new exhibit," Rose spoke up when she leaned over to get a look at what the older man was looking at, "It's…" she trailed off and looked to the green eyed ninja who stared back, coming to the same conclusion.

"The Gargoyle exhibit Daniel was in charge of!" the two women said in unison. Misako covered her mouth, "It opens tomorrow…" she pulled the piece of paper back, "I helped with this and Rose and Sonia did all the paperwork because I was out when pregnant with Lloyd…" excitement turned to dread however, "My brother's gonna be there because I have to be there for every exhibit that opens… damn I can't believe I overlooked this… it's pretty obvious too… why would he do that?"

"Why is right… I thought you said Ronin was sneaky…" Kasai frowned.

"Doesn't matter now about why he would do that; you all have to go! If Misako thinks her brother will be there then take all the precaution you need!" Diella sternly told the ninja. "Everyone should be lying in wait because Ronin will no doubt plan something to send you nine a message or something even more devious." They all nodded and she smiled a bit, "Good luck and let me know how it goes!"

"Good luck from me as well!" Ikari butted in with a grin and the two waved a little and then the image faded, leaving their reflections on the orb.

"Well… guess we're all going to the museum tomorrow…" Namiko tucked her brown fringe behind her ear, leaning back in her chair. "Better call Diella's back up then… I guess having other elemental masters on our team would be a good thing, right?"

"Being that Shen can turn invisible, Neuro can read minds, Griffin's stupidly fast, and no one would suspect a short, blind guy that can shatter glass… I'm guessing we have a shot here," Anthony shrugged, leaning on the heel of his hand. "See you guys tomorrow morning then, I gotta get to work myself," he got up and waved to the other eight who waved back.

* * *

><p>It was nerve wracking to even think about the next morning, just knowing their foe was just waiting for them to show up like how he wanted.<p>

It was even worse as Misako stood next to Rose and Garmadon, holding Lloyd who was being quiet… for now anyways of course. Glancing around the huge room she could see the others on the team in the crowd, waiting for _something_ to happen, what, they didn't really know.

_"__Ronin's here"_

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she looked around, it wasn't just her instincts that told her that though, but she spied Neuro in the back of the room being he could perform telepathy to whoever he chose to send a message to.

"Garmadon-"

"Yea he told me too…" he cut her off quietly. "You gonna be okay?" he nervously looked at her.

"Yea… I'll be fine…" she swallowed, "Sonia…" Misako leaned over to the amber eyed woman on the other side of Rose. "Sonny, I need you and Daniel to take cover because things are going to get probably bad…" Sonia blinked and looked to her husband. "I also need a favor; can you watch Lloyd when things do get bad?"

"Of course…" the chestnut haired intern nodded quickly and looked to the blonde man beside her, "Danny, office, now, with Dana and Lloyd," she started moving, taking the infant from his mother while the museum director went on about whatever was exchanged at the openings of these sorts of things, plenty of people were there, from old to young, it made the team sick just imagining if they were responsible for someone dying or even getting hurt should Ronin pull something.

"Nu-huh," a familiar voice interrupted, "Sorry sis but you're not going to avoid anything with your baby," Ronin stepped out, what looked to be a grenade in his hand. Everyone in the room was now starting at the man with the eye patch. "Name's Ronin for you who don't know me…" everyone looked around, confused as to this newcomer, "and I'm here on official business… for one… with you sis." He flashed her a smile.

Misako's cheeks burned when he talked to her like that and even more so when people were all watching her, wondering how she could be related to him of all people in Ninjago. "You want me to translate your map but why are you screwing around and asking me here?" she uneasily looked around, she certainly didn't expect him to just call her out in front of people, she always expected he would come to her house, dragging her away.

"Because you'll wanna save not your skin, but the skins of all these innocent people… not to mention your tiny little baby you and your husband love so much…" he chuckled, pinching her cheek as he seemed to have the upper hand, "You were always a goody two shoes… you know that? You think you're so clever and noble, well I out maneuvered you and you're not going to get out of this one so easily… so you come with me… or I blow everyone to kingdom come… and don't worry… I made sure to bar all of the doors!"

"Monster," Misako hissed at him and went to smack him when he wagged his finger, holding the grenade higher, signaling he was going to pull the pin if she so much as touched him in any way. "You… you bastard," she felt like crying because he really would do it. She looked painfully at fussy Lloyd. "You'll kill yourself too!"

"Eh, price to pay… but not today Mimi… come with me and I promise I'll let ya go when this is all over and I get what I've been searching for all this time," he gave her a devious smirk but she knew he meant it. That was what he did with people; as soon as your use was finished for him, you would get tossed aside like nothing.

The female ninja swallowed hard, looking around at all the people she could save by going with him, most looked scared she was going to fight back and say no. "Misako, don't do it…" Wu whispered to her. "He could be lying to you and we could never see you again and… for all you know that grenade could be a dud he could be using just to scare you with".

"He's not… I can tell when he is lying and he does mean what he says…" she sighed, holding a hand to her forehead, there was no real choice this time. "Take care of Lloyd while I'm gone… both of you," she told the brothers with a sad smile, straightening up. "I'm really counting on your both this time because Lloyd will be relying on you this time," she took a step forward, "And don't let Garmadon change his diapers…" she added plainly.

"What-!?"

Ronin grabbed her arm right and pulled her closer to him after she left her instruction and instead, threw down a smoke bomb in the place of the grenade. "Chao everyone!" his laugh resonated in the large room though he, along with Misako, was gone now.

"Mimi…" Garmadon whispered and looked around, "Come on, we can't let her do this!" he shouted, running off, the others following, but stopped him and looked back at Sonia who handed him his son with a look of defeat. "Gah…" he shook his head, holding the baby boy. "She's gonna be the death of me… I frikkin swear it," he started walking with the others to find the guards just starting to get the doors unbarred.

"Now what!?" Kasai asked frantically as the eight walked down the museum steps, Garmadon fuming, ready to punch anybody and anything in his path should they disturb or irritate him.

"We find my wife! What else do we do you idiot?!" Garmadon snapped at the younger man, furious with how everything turned out, eyes starting to glow again. "Come on you… hey; where's Shen?!" he blinked seeing only three of their allies there, starting to calm down a little with his confusion.

"Wait…" Crevan started, "You don't think…?"

"That he followed them? He is rather stealthy… give the guy that," Griffin nodded. "Have the time I don't even know he's there what I teepee the neighbor's house and blackmails me with the video he takes," he admitted.

"Anyways… Come on, maybe we'll be able to find them…" Wu put a hand on his brother's shoulder. He just sighed and gave in, no better idea in mind.

**Haha... well I wrote the song, there're three versus and I called it "Delilah's Lullaby" being Delilah also means night so ya know, that's cool ****totally did not plan that at all hehe**** soooo yep... Ronin on the run... now it's Garmadon's turn to be on his own... just imagine Wu and Garmadon taking care of Lloyd on their own... the chaos... imagine all of the chaos... plus there'll be the other teammates...**

**Also did I crush your little hearts with the flashback? Bet I did... oh and I also wrote a creepy alternate I plan on using later haha... oh it will get really sad when I do that... I am truly amazed at how long this thing is becoming... I mean... sheesh right?**

**Thanks for reading! I appreciate it :) Next week you'll see some cute Lloyd and Garmadon shtuff *^***

**~Mar**


	84. The Spider's Web

Misako was shoved into the small apartment and sighed, seeing Diella's map on the desk inside. Ronin was a persistent one, just like her, that much she could see they were alike personality wise. If she didn't hate him before, she hated him now most definitely.

"Well, I would start getting to work before we move locations…" the older sibling walked past her and grabbed a bag. "I just came back here to grab a few things". His voice alone made her blood boil. "You hate me now, don't you?" Ronin didn't even have to look back at her expression. "But… the faster you decode it, the faster you can go back and be with your baby".

"Did I ever actually tell you I hated you?"

"Don't need to say it, it's been written all over your face since we met again," he chuckled. "Before that even, come to think about it…"

Misako sighed and sat down, reading the strange language that the landmarks were written in. It shouldn't take her too long, but this went against everything she stood for her whole life. She didn't want to admit it, but she was scared of Ronin, possibly more scared than any monsters she fought, any thoughts of Garmadon becoming a monster and abandoning her, more than the birth and safety of Lloyd.

He was dead serious and was willing to do literally anything for a quick buck and that would include harming her and anyone that was in his way. She couldn't cry in front of him though, she wouldn't allow him the pleasure to see her how she felt inside.

She decided to play the lullaby she sang to her baby just the night before in her head, knowing that it wouldn't be her singing it to her son tonight. It was really the only thing that kept her from breaking down in front of Ronin.

She had to find a way to help the others catch her brother, even if she was in the role of the prisoner.

* * *

><p>Garmadon sighed as his son cried and cried with no Misako and her magical soothing voice to make things better for the two of them. "Mommy will be back… she'll be back… I promise…" he held Lloyd to his chest and closed his eyes, hearing the newborn cry more. "For now, you're just stuck with me and uncle Wu…" he let out a breath. The younger sibling was currently sleeping on his couch; actually the entire team was down there to his annoyance, he kind of wanted to be alone after the day he had had.<p>

He ended up plopping down in the rocking chair and continued his attempts to keep the infant quiet but he knew that Lloyd knew something was very wrong. "Oh I want to just break a couple of things right now I'm so angry… the only reason I'm not is because I don't wanna make you cry more…" he admitted sadly. "You have no idea what's going on inside me Lloyd…"

The tiny boy opened his green eyes, quieting down a little for some reason which surprised his father. "What?" his red eyes looked down at the emerald color his wife possessed as well. They were wide, as if wondering why everyone else had normal colored eyes and he had glowing red ones. "Lloyd…" he sighed and then felt the infant sucking on his finger.

"Why all of the sudden you calm down…?" he closed his eyes again when he heard Lloyd coo. "You shouldn't get to friendly and comfortable with me you know… I'm terrified of what I could do to you should I snap without your mother with me… and trust me, we will not be very close when you understand what it is that I am…"

Lloyd reached a little hand up and grasped Garmadon's finger when he stopped sucking on it, making his father genuinely smile this time, he didn't want that to happen in slightest, he adored the baby too much to grow apart from him, "Come on… you should be falling asleep now…" he rested Lloyd in the crook of his elbow. "I take it you wanna hear her song…" he tiredly said when Lloyd stared up at him, expectantly.

_"__Hush little baby, don't you whine for I am with you and all is fine. Mother and father both love you my dear; so sleep, and in the morning, all will be clear. Have sweet dreams that will make you smile and I shall watch over you all the while"._

Lloyd's eyes drooped shut like magic. Moments ago Garmadon didn't even want to deal with his own child he was so frustrated, but now he didn't want to put him down in the crib and he felt the newborn nuzzle closer in his father's arms. Garmadon just rested his head back and closed his eyes; hoping sleep would find him as easily as it did for Lloyd. _"For once… I don't feel like a monster…"_

* * *

><p>"Up up up!" Misako opened her eyes as she started to dose off for a second time. To her annoyance once more, it was Ronin pulling her chair out with her still in it and grabbing the papers that were left out before yanking her to her feet. "Come on sis-"<p>

"Stop calling me that…" she managed to say, still tired from all the reading she tried to get done the day and night before when she was dragged there against her will. "I'm not you sister… you betrayed me… you betrayed everyone we ever knew". She mumbled as she was pushed along. "So where's Hibiki may I ask? Ya know, your old partner in crime!?"

"He's where we're going silly," Ronin chuckled and started walking ahead. "Come on," he pulled a set of keys out of his pocket. "Get on in. We don't want anyone finding us here so quickly, now do we?" Misako looked around, swearing she heard footsteps following them but no one was in sight.

What felt like someone's hand, brushed hers and she perked up and looked over her shoulder again, not seeing anyone there but she knew someone had to be there. "And where _are_ we going Ronin?" she asked, feeling as though an ally was with her.

The brunette looked back at her with a frown, wondering why she was asking that at first, "I'll tell you in the car maybe…"

The emerald eyed ninja growled to herself and folded her arms, "Well I'm not getting in the car maybe until you tell me!" she defiantly said to him. "And you can't make me either!" she sounded like the little sister she was.

"Stop being such a baby Misako, sheesh… it's like we're kids again arguing and…" he stopped himself and looked around, "Who else is here?" Ronin quietly asked her.

"What are you talking about?" she dropped her arms and looked around when he asked her that. "No one knows where I am after you kidnapped me!" In all honesty, she really didn't know if there was even someone there or she was just wishfully thinking someone else was there with her.

"Recruited," he pointed to her, correcting her statement, "and… I feel someone else is here as well…" he frowned deeper. "Just get in the car Misako," he grabbed her by the forearm and yanked her forward towards him even though she pulled against. "Stop making this difficult Mimi!" he strained.

"Don't call me that!" she smacked him across the face which surprised him enough to let go and stare at her for a moment. She felt stunned too but and squeezed her eyes shut and ran past him in an attempt to get away. "MISAKO!" he shouted after her. "NO MATTER WHERE YOU GO I'LL FIND YOU TILL I GET WHAT I WANT!" he roared after her.

"Home… have to get home…" she looked at the street signs, agitated. "I can't take him on by myself…" she quickly breathed. "Shen… is… are you there?" she hopefully asked.

"It was a nice try on your part," he quiet voice came up to her right and she assumed he was running along beside her in his total invisible state. "What are we going to do now may I ask? You have a mad man on your tail who basically threatened to stalk you forever".

Misako looked over her shoulder to see if Ronin was driving after her, so far he wasn't, he was running she assumed. "Well it's not like I can just claim he's harassing me to a cop… Ronin will screw his memories up and bam… he gets a minion to also chase after me… we're on our own Shen, just me and you," she sadly concluded. "My house must be ten miles away… maybe a little more than that… I haven't been able to run that far in years… let alone fast enough… not since the war I mean…"

She glanced down at the leg that was once filled with shrapnel, Namiko had done a fine job of taking the metal out, but she had a feeling her friend may have missed one or two. She still had scars from that not so lovely chapter of her life. It wasn't a hindrance when it came to sprinting but if it was a short stretch a mile or so. _"Wow… for once I actually feel like I'm old…"_ she thought to herself.

"Well we have to do something to get you from his sights… unfortunately… I can't turn you invisible with me…" she felt his hand touch her shoulder.

The earth master already felt tired, lungs burning and stomach cramping, leg muscles growing more tired. "I almost feel like he planned this perfectly… get me now when I'm mobile but not so in shape that I can run like this…" the two masters rounded a corner to catch their breaths.

"Did you even begin to decipher the map?" Shen asked her, also panting.

"I worked on it all day and even into the night… I know I had to memorize it I guess…" she remembered she had the parchment in her back pocket and pulled it out. "I… I did memorize… so I bet we could burn this and that would be the end of it… only I and Diella could know where the ten weapons lay… as well as the elemental forges…" she realized the map held more than just the weapons Ronin sought, so many artifacts that need protection. "Shen can you make a light beam to burn it?" she quickly asked, looking at the map one last time, committing it to the brilliant memory she always had.

"Sure… but what happens when your brother catches us and sees we burned it?"

Misako hadn't thought of that part. "Then I deal with whatever punishment he tries to give to me… he won't kill me or hurt me that much because then he'll need my mind… and I spent so many years trying to build it up against powers like his…"

"But…"

"Burning the map will protect millions of people… eight of those people are my family… my real family… and I'm sure whatever family you and your friends have… Shen…" her green eyes pleaded, "just do it, I want you to disappear and tell the others the address of this apartment building that he's probably taking me west," she handed it to the floating set of clothes. "I'll be fine on my own… I promise…"

The light master sighed and took it, starting to burn it. "Oh Misakooo?"

"Go, now…" the green eyed woman pushed him and Shen turned invisible once more. Misako started breathing quickly again, looking around and then up at the brick wall behind her. "Oh ninja skills don't fail me now…" she wanted to linger in the area and delay her brother from moving on as long as she could so that that her friends could at least have a shot at finding her faster.

The ninja with the light brown hair turned around found a small foothold and started climbing as best she could.

* * *

><p>"Guys! GUYS!" Everyone turned around when they could make out it was Shen running to them, out of breath by the sound of things. "Misako… she… Ronin's taking her west and she's delaying around where he was hiding since yesterday… we gotta go get her… now!" he hopped. "We gotta hurry because she made me burn the map and Ronin's gonna be pissed at her when he finds out and try and manipulate her memories so that she'll tell him the locations she memorized!"<p>

"Wu, hold my son," Garmadon peddled off the two month old baby to his younger brother who awkwardly held the infant. "Alright, let's go guys-"

"What about me though!?" the blonde blinked. "I can't fight evil while holding a baby!" he looked to Lloyd who stared at him with his round, green eyes.

"Well I'm stronger than you so I think it's best you sit this out instead of me sitting this one out, okay?" the brunette quickly told him while the others followed behind.

Wu sighed and sat back down. "Your mom thought we could get along for more than two minutes? I think she's totally wrong about that… which would be a first…" he looked at his nephew, "Come on then little one…" the younger sibling shook his head and went back into the nursery, defeated knowing that's someone had to care for him.

* * *

><p>"Misakoooo… where are you?"<p>

Her back was against the wall on the top ledge of the building, Ronin on the roof, heart racing. "Well… hello there…" he chuckled and she looked up to see him waving a little. "You have nowhere else to go sis… come on up and give me the map so that we can-"

"I burned it…" she struggled to say.

"What?"

"I… burned it… it's ruined! You can't ever find those artifacts the map showed!" she admitted, knowing he would climb down there and dangle her off the edge the nut job he was. She couldn't look up and see, but she knew he had a scowl on his face.

"Well then… maybe I can force the memories of reading it from you if you're really going to be this troublesome…" The light brown haired man said thoughtfully, scratching at his scraggly beard and looked back down. "Damn it Mimi, why do you delay my plans? It only delays you going home…"

Misako closed her eyes, wanting to sit she was so tired from climbing seven stories up. There was barely enough ledge space to keep her heels planted. "Garmadon… guys… please find me soon…" she felt her heart pounding at the thought of her older brother brainwashing her, even for a short time.

**I literally just came up with that chapter heading right now... can you believe it? I think it fits... soo... I know most of us know that Ronin manipulates Misako's memories to help him in the Shadow of Ronin videogame (read Misako and Ronin in case you wanna quickly find out what happened, though this story is no longer connected to canon at all, it;s a Universal Alternate sort of) **

**I plan on using Ronin in my newest series (possibly in the sequel to The Tournament) in which he will manipulate Misako's memories, similar to what happened in the game, which is why I thought it interesting if she could withstand his powers now. (the Obsidian weapons enhance mental abilities).**

**The map Diella made which held the location of the Obsidian Weapons also had the location of the forges and the primal fulcram since she appears to be the only person who really knows where that fulcram thing is, hence why Ronin needed her...**

**gah tired... it's late... liked how I threw that shrapnel incident back in there? Namiko may be a healer but she can't fix everything. In fact something similar happened to my gramps (he has the purple heart medal) with a piece of shrapnel in his leg (still not entirely sure how it happened but he has a mark still I think... so yea)**

**I'm just rambling now, sorry... thanks for reading, love ya guys and this story may go on a two week hiatus... idk... i have too many fics! it's so annoying I know... see ya around guys**

**~Mar**


	85. Bully

Ronin twisted her arm behind her back, making her yelp, clenching her teeth in pain. "I won't twist anymore if you get on your knees… this is taking too long and I know you want it that way…" he said in her ear.

"If you kill me then you won't get the information you need!" she groaned, feeling him press more. She squeezed her eyes shut. "Argh I hate you I hate you I hate you!" she started screaming, having a bit of a tantrum as he wouldn't let go of her for anything.

"I'll get you to talk then!" using his free hand, he pressed the palm of his hand to her forehead. Slowly she stopped struggling and passed out. "Gosh…" he shook his head tiredly. "You're way more trouble than you're worth… I swear Misako…" the older sibling picked her up and carried her back downstairs to put her in the back seat of his car. _"Hopefully I was able to manipulate her memories just a bit… so when she wakes up… I can finally use her…"_

* * *

><p>"There's no one here!" Garmadon shouted and grabbed Shen's shirt collar, "Listen you freak; you said she would be here! SO WHERE IS SHE?!"<p>

"How was I suppose to know she couldn't keep holding him off?!" the invisible man defended. "She told me to run! She didn't want my help with him! What was I supposed to do!?"

Garmadon wiped his face, "You ignore her when she says that! She always makes sure people are out of harm's way except for her! She's a leader, she's an earth master! Of course she's gonna tell you to run and 'get help' because than means you can't get hurt!"

"Ooooh…" Shen realized what the older man was telling him. "Well… now I know for next time I guess…"

"If there is a next time you mean- Ouch!" Jacob was cut off by Neuro who frowned at him from making a comment like in front of her incredibly emotionally unstable husband.

"How am I going to find her?!" Garmadon sat on the curb, covering his face. "How the hell am I!?"

Shen walked over to Neuro and elbowed him a little, "Hey… can you try and connect with Misako's mind? Maybe you can communicate like that and find where they're going… you've done it with us and some of the other masters before…"

The master of the mind raised an eyebrow, thinking it over for a moment, "I suppose it could work…" he pondered. "I haven't known her that long… making a mental connection isn't always the easiest… but I shall try to do it…" he closed his hazel green eyes.

* * *

><p>Misako stirred just a little bit and found her wrists tied together, wherever she was, she was bouncing a bit and heard the sound of an engine. Once awake more, she remembered what happened and snapped at attention, looking around freaking out with wide eyes. "Whoa whoa…" Ronin looked back at her. "You're okay, don't worry about anything…"<p>

"Bastard…" she managed to seethe, trying to sit up all the way and hit him over the head but she was too tired and weak to move.

_"__Well she remembers everything… looks like her mind's stronger than I thought… I need that glaive and then I can harness my powers better…"_ Ronin clicked his teeth together, deep in though. "We're almost there so don't worry; you'll be able to get out and stretch your legs".

She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling like crying more. Something buzzed in the back of her mind though and she frowned, wondering what was causing such a sensation, until she heard a familiar voice.

_"__Misako? Misako…?" _

_"__Neuro!?" _ she looked around as she thought that.

_"__We found the apartment empty… where are you going? Are you hurt?" _

_"__No… he tried to manipulate my memory but just made me pass out instead… he just tied my wrists up so tell Garmadon he doesn't need to rage around and punch everyone like an angry bull…"_

Neuro looked back at Garmadon who was close by and wondering if he was having a mental conversation with his wife. "She's okay for now. Ronin attempted to change her memories but failed so if you want to go on a rage, wait until she finds out where she's going so we can head over there and can beat him up yourself…" The brunette frowned at the words relayed to him.

_"__I told him… so what's going on? What do you see?"_

_"__There's no address but we're somewhere in a forest it looks like…" _Misako was dragged out of the car. Ronin frowned, wondering why she was so silent all of a sudden. _"I think we're in Birchwood by the look of the trees… he has a hideaway here I think… a cabin by the look of it…" _she looked around curiously at their surroundings.

"Birchwood Forest," Neuro looked at the others and they started off again. _"Just hang tight we will find you as quickly as we can"._

_"__How's Lloyd?" _she needed to know how her baby was doing without her.

_"__We left him in the care of Wu, do not worry about him. He is safe"._

Misako breathed in relief as the car stopped and Ronin frowned deeper, opening the passenger door and raising his hand to her forehead again but hesitated. Misako froze, staring at him with scared eyes. "I know this way isn't pleasant… so just tell me who are you talking to?"

"No one…" she whispered, looking up at his hand wondered if he would knock her out a second time. "Ronin… please…" she couldn't take it anymore, her eyes started watering over. "Just let me go… I don't wanna do this anymore…" she sniffed.

He grimaced at her, "You're stupid friends are coming aren't they?" he snapped at her. "And so what? You and mom and dad hated me all you life… because I weird and different with my powers… you never had weird effects on people's brains… I could touch someone and give them amnesia as a kid before I learned I could control the minds of people!"

"We wanted to help you but you started turning into a bad kid…" she squeezed her eyes shut, afraid he was still going to hurt her. "You started using it to knock places over and hide your tracks… you didn't want to go straight… Darkly's was such a mistake for you… I don't care if they were the only place that took you in!"

"No no, I turned this way maybe because mom and dad stopped caring and dumped us on other people… at least you had a kind family to take care of you…I had a school full of losers who beat me up and shoved me in lockers because I was more brilliant than them and they were just jealous!" he was shouting more. "And I'm going to show everyone that when you screw with someone like me, you'll get burned so badly…"

"Bullying people is wrong! You hated it when people did it to you and now look at yourself!" she screamed back at him, "You're the bully now Ronin. How much better are you compared to them? I don't care how smart you think you are".

He grabbed her by the collar of her shirt, dragging her out of the backseat and slammed her into a tree, "SHUT UP!" he snapped. "You don't know what it's like to be so lonely… well now… maybe when your friends come here I'll be able to wipe memories of you from your husband… then maybe whatever little memories of you your son has! See how you like being forgotten".

Her head hurt from being slammed but all she could to was hold onto the wrists of her older sibling. "No one forgot about you… you just wanted to be a villain… and now you're using it as an excuse to do these things… to turn your back on the only person who tried to be there for you," she swallowed hard, finding it just a little hard to breathe.

"I want wipe that mind of yours so badly… but you're head's too thick to do that," he leaned closer. "Maybe we could even become partners… your strong and smart… Oh I could use a side kick like you in my travels…"

"Forget it… you tried doing that kind of bullshit to me when we were little… and I've grown stronger since then… it's been practically thirty years since the last time I saw you… and you still have done nothing useful… you're an obsidian master… an elemental just like me and my friends… my real family… and you don't have to be a mercenary to use it!"

"I won't join your group of pathetic goody goodies, do you hear me!? You dumb and pathetic people who risk your lives for people you don't even know! Well I'm only looking out for me from now on!" he raised his hand again and used his powers to knock her out a second time.

**IDK... bullying topic was bound to come up in this arc sooner or later... I have another argument/fight between these two over sexism in battle... I'm kind of proud of how I wrote the chapter...**

**Man... over the weekend like seriously, flood of inspiration came over me to write like 5 more chapters... Thanks for reading! I know this one was rather short but the one after this was pretty long... as was the one after that... see ya later!**

**~Mar**


	86. Instinct

"Oh… you're awake now…"

Misako squinted as she woke up a second time. She looked around dazed and head pounding; whatever her brother was doing to make her pass out, the after affects hurt like hell. "Where am… who are you…?" her head felt clogged as she tried to sit up.

"Headache's normal, don't worry about that part so much…" he looked to be about her age, black hair and in an old and worn prison suit by the look of things, a red beanie on his head. "I'm… Hibiki Karu… I guess you and your friends tried to stop Ronin from kidnapping me from my cell not long ago… thanks for trying".

"Misako Alexander…" she introduced herself, leaning back against the wall, raising her hands and seeing they were cuffed, lowering them again.

"Oh… I see the resemblance…" Hibiki sighed, looking at her eyes. "What element did you get then? Not obsidian like your brother obviously."

"Earth…" she looked at her still bound wrists again, trying to break the ties but it was no use, they were just too tight. "Damn it…" she cursed and looked around, wondering where Ronin was. "He knows if I was free I'd kick his ass so hard… so use he's using anti-magic tools…" she gritted her teeth. "In my mother in-law's journal… she spoke of you…" she slowly stopped trying to break free. "She said when you were condemned to prison you screamed it was Ronin's fault… you didn't willingly steal those weapons from the gargoyle guardians did you?"

"Hell no!" Hibiki shook his head, "Never ever wanted to get involved with your brother… he… I guess he controlled me by replacing some of my memories and made me the fall guy. After a while I heard the weapons were hidden with a map and I knew… I just had this gut feeling Ronin would come back to control me again… I didn't want that so I knew staying behind bars, though unjustly, would protect me…" he looked around and let out a long sigh, "Guess I was wrong about that wasn't I?"

"I thought I saw the last of my brother a very long time ago…" she squeezed her eyes such, "But he kidnapped me from my family… I was so scared when he knocked on my door…" she half laughed, "My husband was so shocked… he never seen me so upset like how I was… I bet the last thing he thought I'd be terrified of was another man… my own brother no less…"

"It's what people like him do though… I'm afraid of him too…" She was happy to have someone sane as company until her family found her at last. "So… family… I had one once… two brothers… we lived with my aunt… and I was pretty happy until that stupid boy from my school tried to be friends with me… and then well… you know the rest of that story… my brothers still visit… they believe me at least… one's got a bunch of little girls… I love em so much… what's your story then? Why the… situation between you and your brother?"

Misako nodded, "Yea… Ronin and I… our parents were never around… they worked for the Ninjago History Museum like how I do now… only I don't run around in far off places… leaving my family behind like how they did to us…" she picked at her nails, not knowing what else to do. "He was sent to boarding schools all the time… and I stayed at the First Spinjitsu Master's monastery with his sons…"

"Whoa… the big guy!? For real?! You lived with him?!" Hibiki looked intrigued now.

"His been dead for almost a year though… he was more of a father to me than anybody else had been… his sons were like my brothers… and then he took on three more students just after his wife died… they were also my brothers and sister… then when we all grew up I married the eldest of his sons… we should have had three children… but now we just have one…"

"I'm… sorry to hear that…" Hibiki quietly said. "What do you have left?"

"Well it would had been two boys and a girl… we just have the youngest left… a boy…" the brunette smiled at thinking of her little infant, "Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon… he's two months old… and I can't stand to be so far away from him…" she tried to imagine him with a toothless smile, sucking on her fingers as she sang to him, those thoughts were her only comfort now.

"Geez… only two months?" he looked surprised by that. "Damn, if I had a kid that little… I'd miss him too…"

Misako sadly nodded in confirmation. "And his father and other uncle aren't exactly the best babysitters… especially when they're together in the same room… there… was a lot of rivalry…" she almost could have laughed at the arguments that could be happening between the brothers. "Still… they're looking for me which is one thing they can agree on… and once I get these stupid cuffs off… I'll beat the shit out of Ronin for doing this…" she growled now, staring at the anti elemental cuffs.

"Nice thought but I don't see that happening anytime soon… he has more friends… three," Hibiki sighed. Misako raised an eyebrow curiously, wondering why three. "Some fish thing that can breathe on land, a pale woman with long black hair, and a guy with these hypnotizing eyes and a bit of a messed up face…"

Misako's eyes widened, "I…" she swallowed. "I was the one who messed his face up…" she tried to laugh but the memory of doing it was a painful circumstance to remember. "They are long time enemies of mine… since I was a little girl he was an adversary… Sigan the Time Ninja is the ring leader of those three… and I have a horrible idea of why they're involved with this…"

* * *

><p>Wu looked down at Lloyd, squirming and whining for his mother and father to come and hold him close and to love him. "I'm the last person you want being with you… right?" he asked the infant. "Don't worry they'll be coming back soon enough…" He looked at the baby's bright green eyes and tilted his head, "You look like Garmadon… except your eyes though… he did look like you as a baby from the pictures," he observed with a kind smile.<p>

A twinkle of gold reflected off the baby's emerald irises as he sucked on his hand, staring up at his uncle.

It all came back to him.

"Oh no…" he covered his mouth. "Oh no no…" It had been a long time ago, not very long after the death of Lloyd's sister, but he remembered the vision when he first tried the Spirit Smoke with his father. He remembered what name was called in the vision that was forgotten by all who knew of it. It was Lloyd. And here he was years later, really there like what he saw. "But he was a little boy in the vision… it's only a matter of time now… isn't it?"

The blonde squeezed his eyes shut, heart aching now for his tiny nephew. "Oh Lloyd… your father… he… he must be the enemy I saw… I hoped it was a lie… or a nightmare… but it's all happening before our eyes…" he picked the newborn up and held him close, just wanting to protect him from whatever fate was being decided for him.

A tapping noise was heard on the glass of the nursery window. The younger brother looked to it, wondering what it could be outside, hoping it was just a bird. He slowly stepped over when the glass broke, making Lloyd scream and cry.

"Aww, don't cry little baby," the winged woman mocked and laughed before pulling her whip out and looked to Wu, "I'm here to take you to mommy and your uncle… you could say".

"Hatsu…" Wu growled, feeling his cheek which had a cut on it now.

* * *

><p>"Birchwood ahead," Crevan announced as Rose stepped on the gas pedal of the big jeep the ninja rode in. "Careful in here Rose; it's fall now but Treehorns could still be out early and they look just like trees! Those things can cause a lot of destruction!<p>

"Got it," the black haired woman acknowledged, brown eyes narrowing as she paid attention to the road ahead. They all remembered these roads during the war they all fought in together in what felt like ages ago. They were younger and stronger and not so emotionally torn apart… well Garmadon wasn't at least.

"We're close, I remember seeing a place like this through Misako's eyes," Neuro stood up and looked around as Rose abruptly slammed on the breaks, sending the master of the mind flying forward, past Rose and Crevan in the front, onto the hood of the car. "Oww…" he groaned as Rose quickly ran out of the car to help him up. "I should have seen that coming now that I think about it…" he rubbed his head.

"Let's just hurry," Kasai whipped his sword out, ready to hack anyone who would try to attack them.

Garmadon couldn't agree more and started walking when he felt the phone in his pocket buzz around. "Wu?" he pulled it out, a bit agitated that he was being stalled.

_"__Y…yea…"_ the older blinked; he sounded out of breath and weak. _"Garmadon… I… we…"_

"Listen, if he's having a fit check his diaper… if it's not that just sit on the couch with him and put cartoons on, he loves it... though he probably can't understand it… just… we're close now, can this wait? I'm sure you know what to do-"

_"__Hatsu kidnapped Lloyd!" _

Garmadon stopped in his tracks, frozen. The others looked back at him, wondering what was going on. _"Garmadon?!"_ his brother frantically called on the other end. _"GARMADON!? I'M SORRY! SHE WAS TOO MUCH FOR ME ON MY OWN!"_

The brunette squeezed his eyes shut and hung up on his brother, stalking forward past his friends who were curious still as to what was happening back home with Wu and Lloyd. "Ronin's working with Sigan's band of bitches…" he seethed even more now. "And now he has my baby…" everyone looked surprised as he told them that.

Coming to think of it, no one there had ever seen him so furious in their whole time knowing him. He looked even angrier than he did when Hope died if that was possible. "Not again… not again…" Namiko held her head, shaking it quickly. "Kas… Kas we gotta do something, Garmadon's going mental and Misako isn't here to hold him back this time!"

Everyone watched their friend angrily charge ahead on his own.

* * *

><p>Misako and Hibiki straightened up when they heard Ronin walk in. "Getting along nice I see… good good," he chuckled and took a seat, looking at them. "So… we ready to cooperate?" he folded his hands together, bending forward.<p>

His sister sneered at him, "Never".

The brother sat back on the stool, shaking his head, "Not the answer that I wanted… all I was able to get from your mind while you were asleep was the glaive's location… I want it. Just that one… it's the most powerful… it's here in Birchwood and you better cough it up Mimi".

"No," she defiantly said back. "Torture my mind all you want".

"You really don't wanna do that…"

She blinked, he was smirking… Why? He had nothing without her cooperation. Why was he smirking like he had the upper hand?

The mercenary snapped his fingers, "Hatsu…" Misako perked up upon hearing the name. In walked her old enemy. Her heart stopped when she saw what… more so, who was in her clutches, whining and reaching out.

"Lloyd…" she reached her hands out, the name catching in her throat, eyes watering, not believing it was really him there before her in the hands of her enemies. This was the very last thing she wanted.

"That's enough Ronin…" the other prisoner stood up, "Don't bring a little baby into this! That's your nephew… your flesh and blood! Your sister's son! You would hurt him to get what you want from her?"

"Shut up you spineless wimp," the brunette snapped off at the other man and took Lloyd from the half human woman. "Go stand guard with the other two, won't you dear?" he kindly asked. She nodded, but seemed to hesitate, looking at the baby and then Misako's heartbroken face. She shook her head and walked back outside like she was instructed.

"Oh he's so tiny… and fragile… right?" the older looked back to meet the watery gaze of his little sister. "My you made one good looking kid Mimi… you and that husband of yours must love him so much… don't you?"

"Ronin…" Misako's heart quickened, "Ronin please… please don't hurt him, I'm begging you," the old memories replayed, this was exactly how Hope died. Her enemy, cradling the life she carried for nine months, who she loved more than anything in the entire world. "Please…" she started crying, she couldn't help it. She covered her face and shook. "Please please please don't harm him…"

Her older sibling chuckled at seeing her so vulnerable, "That's the problem with women being warriors sis…" he tauntingly started, "You're too emotional… you care too much for the weak… you should have just stayed at home and be a good little wife instead of getting yourself involved in all of this… ancient weapons… prophecies… it's gotten you almost killed plenty of times alone… and now you're endangering this little baby of yours…"

"I was right…" she sniffed, nose running, "You aren't my brother…" she stumbled getting up, "And you never ever were… or will be!" she slammed the link to the cuffs over her thigh, cracking them and she slammed a fist into the ground, making the ground shake.

* * *

><p>Outside, not far away the ninja, her family looked around, startled, "That wasn't a natural earthquake… this sector never gets any…" Tanaka smiled a bit, knowing what it must had been from.<p>

"Misako!" Namiko squealed with urgency. "Griffin, scout the area, you can do it fast right?"

"Lightning quick!" The teenager chuckled and saluted before speeding off on his own.

* * *

><p>Lloyd cried and whined at the anger around him. Hibiki was sitting in a corner, terrified of what was going to happen between this battle of siblings. "I wish I never gotten involved in these things!" he covered his head.<p>

"You're wrong Ronin…" Misako set her teeth on edge, green eyes on fire. He blinked at her new attitude. "We might be too emotional sometimes… but that's just the instinct… our gut feeling that drives us…" she looked at Lloyd, sights set on him alone. "And if you think for one moment being a mother is all house cleaning and changing diapers… think again, because we aren't weak, we need to protect our young from people… criminals like you… it's mothers who have a far worse killer instinct than men and if you're not afraid of a mother when you take her baby, you haven't seen hell".

"You wouldn't…"

"I'm not losing another baby to a bastard like you ever again," she was four feet away and she raised her fist. "I'll make your face look just like Sigan's, maybe even worse!" She threatened. "Give me my baby back you friggin maniac!" she lunged forward like a lion.

**And here children, we have how you should never judge a woman, especially when you pick on her for being a mom and a warrior at the same time. Because Misako will screw you up so badly. **

**Next Monday you will see how badly Ronin is screwed haha**

**Thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate it ^w^**

**~Mar**


	87. A Mother's Love

Hatsu side glanced Sigan after the tremors hit from Misako's anger filled rant to her brother, "Do you think he'll really hurt that baby?" she quietly asked him, seeming a bit scared of the thought.

He leaned back against the wall, "What do we care what happens? I killed a baby before… it's nothing to me… you should know by now I don't care about anyone or anything," the time ninja shrugged his shoulder carelessly, almost annoyed by her question.

"Oh… right," she looked away, biting her lip. _"Why do I care?! We've fought them for years… why now do I have a soft… spot…? They're my enemies… I should be happy to see Misako so upset… but still…"_ Hatsu thought to herself.

_"__But aren't you gonna tell him Hattie? Sigan should know of all people…"_

She frowned and looked back at the Mask of Malice, sitting on the back of her head. _"Shut up you stupid piece of porcelain… I never asked for your opinion," _they talked in their heads. Rustling was heard and she snapped at attention. "Kappa…" she whispered to their amphibian like friend.

The scaly creature slowly moved forward first, black eyes narrowing with suspicion.

From the bushes a couple of spears and shurakins flew out, making the three accomplices scatter for a brief moment before the ninja stepped out, happy to see they found the hide out at last. "Ronin; company," the time ninja spoke into a walkie talkie.

* * *

><p>"Garmadon…" Misako heard the message as well and turned her attention back to her adversary, swiping at him, managing to claw his face once. For a moment he tripped back and Misako snatched her child before he could fall with him. "Oh Lloyd…" she whispered as he cried on. "Shhh…" she hushed, softly kissing his face lovingly. "Mommy's here my angel," she cuddled him close before looking back down to glare at her brother.<p>

"Bitch," Ronin got up and charged at her again. Misako caught his fist, muscles straining to push it back but managed to make him go to her side, though he managed to punch her in the stomach with his other hand instead. She gasped, almost accidently dropping her son but she kept a firm grip on him, stepping backwards to get away more from her sibling. "You think you're strong… but I promise you when the moment comes where all hope for you is lost, you'll fall like a house of cards".

* * *

><p>Hatsu was the last one standing as the ninja and elemental masters gathered around her, preparing for her to pull some form of magic on them. The black haired woman stared at them all before squeezing her eyes shut and dropping to her knees, hands raised above her head, "Please…"<p>

"Hatsu!" Sigan snapped at her angrily. "What the hell are you doing!? Crush them! You could do it!" he gritted his teeth when he saw one of his henchmen surrendering before they even had the chance to get into the fight. "HATSU!" he shouted at her again.

They ignored the shouting of the other two they had just tied up, "She's not going to…" Neuro stated and Hatsu nodded; slouching her head forward like she was ashamed of something more than just surrendering. "She can't". She nodded again, looking up at the master of the mind.

"What do you mean by that?" Griffin blinked from behind his red goggles. "She looks like she bite our heads off if she tried… from the way time dude over there is talking, she really could maim us…"

"Hatsu?" Tanaka quietly asked her.

"I'm sorry I took him… that I kidnapped him from his home…" she looked at Garmadon. "I'm sorry I ever helped to split your family up… I understand how you must feel now… you don't have to forgive me…" Garmadon seemed surprised by her apology, wondering if it was a trick or something, "but I can't help them hurt a child and his mother…" she hung her head, feeling pathetic. "I wouldn't like it if someone did that to me…" she folded her arms around her stomach, looking ashamed and guilty at Sigan.

The evil ninja's glowing eyes widened at what she was saying, "What does that mean!? Why are you looking at me like that!?" she looked like she was going to start crying, "HATSU!"

She squeezed her eyes shut harder, holding her hands over her eyes and shaking her head while he shouted at her.

* * *

><p><em>"<em>_I'm going out to meet a possible friend… things have gotten to quiet for me and he's paying," the time ninja walked by. _

_Hatsu perked up and followed after him a little ways, not too close where he would glare at her as a way of saying she was too close, "When… will you be back…?" she bit her lip, taking hold of his arm but he looked at her with his stink eye before shaking it loose. _

_"__Don't coddle me Hatsu…" he chided coldly and continued his walking, "I'll be back here late… make yourself useful or something… I don't care but stay out of my room and… I don't know, go do your potions and crap…" he looked back before shutting the door behind him. _

_"__Hattie's got a crush…" Kappa wheezily laughed. "Puppy love… so sickening… isn't it Malice?" she looked to the floating mask who laughed in agreement, "You're such a push over Hattie… doing whatever he says and being the good little poodle… he even treats you like his dog! You think he'll ever love you? You're just a pretty little face he can push around"._

_The black haired woman looked downcast and turned to find something else to do, away from the things she called her friends, "Sigan… likes me… of course he would…" she looked into her mirror. Though she told herself these things, they didn't feel right to her. _

_"__He picked me first to… to help him break out of the prison… and he said I could stick around with him… that means he likes me… right? Or… no he's not just tolerating me because of my magic abilities…" she asked herself before lowering her head. "Who am I kidding? I bet he wouldn't notice if I left… he never notices anything I do for him… he just smacks me around… whether or not I did something right…" she looked at the clock on her wall and stood up to walk to her bed when the door to their hideout opened._

_"__Sigan… you're back…" she walked out to see him coming back inside, keeping her distance, learning her lesson from his attitude earlier._

_"__I said I'd be back late, didn't I?" he looked over at her. But it wasn't with cold and disdainful eyes like how he normally looked at her and everyone else, her eyes widened. _

_"__How much did you have to drink at the meeting place… you should get some rest… I have a sleep aid potion if you want one," she took a half a step back when he walked up to her so they were chest to chest. "Si…-?" she stopped when she felt his hand snake around her waist. Her red pink eyes widened more when he suddenly kissed her. _

"Why!? Does… he love me now?!" _she thought to herself. She quickly pushed back, shocked at what he was doing with her._

_"__You're always such a good little kitty… aren't you Hattie?" he practically purred to her, nuzzling the side of her face and neck which was so foreign to her to have him treat her like this. "I never told you have I?"_

_"__N-no…" she stuttered a little, feeling suddenly uncomfortable, being she knew he must have laughed it up with this so called contact of his with a few too many drinks. "Are… are you just playing with me Sigan?" she looked behind to see if Kappa or the mask was anywhere near them, wondering if this was a set up, a prank to pull on her._

_"__Why would I play with my good little kitten?" she looked back and they were nose to nose, "I'll just have to show you… don't I?"_

_Her cheeks heated up. That was all she wanted from him. No one ever really showed her love let alone be in the slightest romantically interested with her. Sigan was the least of all yet she still loved him to some extent still._

_The next thing she knew she was on her back, staring up at the man who never acknowledged her once pull down her underwear and violently made love with her. _

* * *

><p>"I hid it so far because you wouldn't want it…" she raised her hands to her eyes. "You wouldn't dare want a child… you don't care about them… you said so yourself you don't care about anyone… I'm sorry," she apologized to him.<p>

"You're lying!" the time ninja snapped at her, "Don't you dare pull this lying bullshit with me Hatsu!"

"You weren't in your right mind when you came back from that tavern when Ronin sought for our help to do this… you… never treated me like you loved me… and that night… I felt like I was loved and thought that's how you really did felt and things would be different… but the next day you were the same again and I was so afraid to tell you… I've always been afraid of you scolding me for what we did together that night… and all the time… for so many years… I regret coming back from a failed mission…"

The others around her were incredibly surprised by the turn of events that started to happen. Sigan looked even more enraged if that was even possible, "Get out of my sight you bitch… I gave you freedom and you betrayed me…"

She stared at him, "You gave me freedom? You? The man who had to ask me for help to bust out of that prison?" The immediate problem of the fight happening inside was temporarily forgotten as the woman who was once their enemy take a stand against her once accomplice.

"After everything…" she felt her heart clench, "We have been partners and accomplices for years… I have done everything you ever told me to do and that's how you treat me!? I always delivered when you needed my help… the first time we met you said you saw potential with me… but you never once ever acknowledged my love and loyalty to you after that meeting… and I see you won't ever… you abused me… you'll only love me if you're not in your normal state of mind or if you need to break you out of a prison!"

She saw he was about to shout something else at her but she wouldn't dare let him. "I'm carrying _your_ child because _you_ forced me down on the bed _Sigan_…" she held a hand over her stomach, "I may have accepted it that night, I admit I willingly loved you back… but you said that night that it was wrong that you would push me around… you… you actually said you loved me and all I did for you… so many times…" she started to cry angrily. "I don't wanna fight for you anymore… I don't wanna fight anymore at all!"

Namiko looked down at her feet before kneeling in front of the woman who no longer wanted to be their enemy. Without hesitation she hugged her tightly, "You don't need men like that in your life… ever… even if you're our enemy… you were just doing what he told you because he gave you false hope of acknowledging you…" she glared at Sigan who looked to be in shock from the way Hatsu just spoke to him.

"We're losing time," Anthony looked back to Garmadon, "Namiko, Crevan, Jacob, and I will stay out here and watch them… and take care of her," he looked to the crying woman Namiko was still consoling.

"Yea! We got this!" the blind elemental master proudly said. "We won't let em out of our sight!"

"We're over here Jake…" Griffin rolled his eyes. "And you're blind, what watching are you doing exactly?"

"Right, let's go then everyone, before it's too late and Misako or Ronin ripped the other to shreds…" Tanaka started forward into the hideout.

* * *

><p>"Misako!?" Garmadon shouted, looking around the front room which was empty. They all looked ahead upon hearing a shout followed by a thump and crash and loud groaning.<p>

"Garmadon!" she came, half limping to him, falling into his arms.

"Lloyd…" he pulled away a little to see the crying infant, starting to cry a bit himself before hugging them both tightly again, "I was so scared I'd never see you again Mimi…" he buried his face in her loose hair. "And when Wu called me I didn't know what to think…"

"I'm sorry…" she hiccupped. "I'm sorry… I… I had to go with him or else you'd get hurt…"

He nodded, clinging to her, "I know… I know Mimi…" for once he had to quiet her down and comfort her. "I'm happy you're safe… it's okay… we're together…" he kissed her forehead and cheeks, still crying while the others went more inside, finding Ronin half out of it and Hibiki hiding in the corner of the room still.

The light haired man grimaced and lifted himself just a little bit before throwing down one of his smoke bombs, "I'll be back… one day," and he vanished when it cleared.

"It's okay, we got them back and that's what really matters right now," Neuro told the others who started to look angry that Ronin got away.

Tanaka walked in more, over to Hibiki who still looked to be shaken up from being dragged into this ridiculous sibling rivalry. "Charges have been cleared Hibiki," he offered a hand to help him up. "The warden knows what happened now all those years ago, you're a free man".

The former prisoner shook his head, "Hell no…" he said when he got up which surprised the others. "As long as that madman's on the loose I never wanna leave that prison again!" everyone looked surprised. "I know things… Misako shared what she knew about a lot of the map before she burned it being we're kind of friends now… I'd like to keep it safe and Kryptarium's no doubt making the place more unbreakable… I'd like to go back there if you don't mind; you can tell the warden to save my jail cell".

"Very well then… we appreciate your help in keeping the locations of the weapons a secret," Neuro looked back at the others, "We will handle taking him back to the prison, make sure you get back safely and we will be in contact".

The two older men and the teenager walked past with Hibiki. "Hey Shen? Neuro?" Griffin looked up, they looked at him, Neuro's eyebrow raised, "I like them, can we hang out with them more?! It's more exciting then hearing you guys and Jacob shouting at the TV and each other when there's a soccer game on or arguing over pizza toppings…"

Shen sighed, "We normally don't get involved with this kind of stuff Griff… let's grab Jacob and go home… I had enough adventure for one week… and it seems that all these people ever do is go on life threatening adventures…" the master of speed grumbled and followed his caretakers out of the small cabin hideaway, pestering them more, "Fine! Maybe when the dust settles we can visit!" the invisible man finally shouted.

* * *

><p>"You're… after everything, you're just going to let me go? I kidnapped your baby in the first place!" Hatsu stared at the ninja who started dragging Kappa and Sigan away before her. "I… no, I should be taken too…" she quietly said, dark hair obstructing her fuchsia eyes.<p>

"You're pregnant Hatsu and prison is no place for a woman like that… let alone locked in a cell with the baby's father, all we ask is that you give the Mask of Malice over to us and go about your life right, no more spells and dark magic…" Crevan told her.

"Make sure you love you kid right… don't be like my father and force them to make choices they don't want…" Garmadon looked at her. He didn't like her. He probably never would after everything they been through, fighting one another and now she was having the child of the man who killed his. She was innocent though when it came to this. She surrendered and let him inside to find his child. All Hatsu really was, was a poor and misguided woman.

Her eyes started welling up again, "I promise. I'll give up all cult magic… I can't reverse the spell for the wings… but I'll hide them… I'll… I'll be a good mom…" she held her hands over her heart and bowed to them. "Thank you so much for your kindness…" she turned and started walking away from them, trying not to let them see her begin to cry.

"Where do you think she'll go?" Rose asked. "She'll be a single mother… a half demon single mother but… do you think she'll promise to be good? Can she really ever be?"

Tanaka sighed, "Who knows anymore… I just wish her well… grudges are… not the way of the ninja… we fight to protect and we have protected… surely if we forced her to stay with Sigan in prison… he would do nothing but abuse her and beat her after what she said to him today… but I sense that she really will try…"

"All of that because of a baby…" Kasai thought out loud. "He really is a psycho if he treated her like that for so long… I guess it makes sense how she behaved… doing anything to kiss up."

"Speaking of psychos…" Anthony started. "What about Ronin?"

"I hope I never see him again…" Misako squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head. "I never want to… I'm just thankful he never got any weapon locations from me… he doesn't even know where to find the obsidian glaive he thought was here…"

* * *

><p>Out of the mouth of an old cave that held sleeping treehorns, the man with the eye patch chuckled to himself as he raised up the target he wished to acquire, "The obsidian glaive…" he ran his gloved hand along the sleek black blade and walked out before he could stir the sleeping monsters that occupied as guardians to the weapon. "Now… I have just a few things to take care of…" he looked at his reflection. "I need to make a pit stop to my sister's brother in law…"<p>

He started off again. He would have to make it before anyone could see him again. He had to. _"I know what that baby is…"_ he thought to himself_, "I have foreseen his destiny with his father when I touched him… and I know that Wu the son of Masuta knows… I will tear my sister's family apart before he could get the chance to warn either of them… I will see to it that Misako's life will be hell"._

* * *

><p><em>Wu rushed to the door after he heard knocking, expecting to see his family there, returning home all safe and sound. He unlocked the door and opened it, but found someone else he did not like at all from just the stories his friend told. "You…" he stepped back as Ronin walked in. "How did you get that!?" he pointed to the glaive on his belt.<em>

_"__Pulled some strings… Misako's mind is quite unguarded when she's asleep and blubbering about her precious little baby... Now I can do anything I want now that I have this". He smirked and raised the weapon. "You know things Wu… like I know them too… I've looked into that baby's future… and I can't let you try to avoid what will happen…"_

_"__I'm not letting my family get torn apart more than it already has been by this curse!" Wu stared at the weapon, heartbeat in his ears as Ronin walked slowly over to him, glaive raised to his forehead._

_The blonde grabbed his wrist and pulled it down, delivering a high kick to the aggressor's face, "And you of all people aren't going to do it!" he growled and tried to wrench the glaive from his hands. "My brother and your sister have suffered enough"._

_"__Not today, brat," Ronin pinned him against the wall and pressed the tip of the glaive to his forehead again and smirked, "Don't worry… you won't remember the foreshadowings you saw or even remember this little fight!" he laughed as the black purple haze sprayed out from the blade and Wu fell unconscious. "Good…" he looked up to a picture on the wall of his sister and her family, "Who knows… maybe we'll meet again sis… I might need you again…"_

* * *

><p>Wu opened his eyes when he heard the knock at the door and tiredly got up. In the doorway was Garmadon and Misako, holding little Lloyd, unharmed and peacefully asleep like how an infant should be in his parent's care. He smiled in relief and hugged the both of them. Surprisingly enough, his brother hugged back with more strength.<p>

"You both are awful babysitters… you know that?" Misako laughed a little, eyes getting watery again.

"I think that's very accurate…" her brother in-law tiredly nodded in agreement with her. Lloyd whimpered a little bit and opened his round eyes, the three smiled at the little baby. "He's back where he belongs now… that's the important thing…"

"My Lloyd…" Misako rested her cheek against the top of his little blonde head. "You're safe… we're so sorry for almost letting something bad happen to you after we made that promise…"

**Yea I know I have a chapter in Black King and White Queen titled this but really, what else should I have called it? **

**So... curveball with Hatsu huh? I shamefully admit the relationship between those two is inspired by Joker and Harley from the Injustice comics... I think it was those comics anyways... but beside which one, she secretly has the Joker's daughter and keeps her a secret and gets out of the relationship with him and is a real friend to Black Canary/Dinah who has a baby with Green Arrow/Oliver. I seriously need to read those comics but not the point of this stupidly long chapter. **

**Hatsu's been a flirtatious kiss up... when I was writing this arc I knew I had to bring her in and plot twist ya all. Hopefully this plot twist doesn't feel like twist for the sake of twist... months ago I had the idea that Hatsu would kidnap Lloyd on her own accord and eventually when they catch up with her she breaks down and come clean about feelings for Sigan and that she actually ran away. I thought this was much better...**

**Okay sorry that was long. As for Ronin there in the end with Wu. I thought, since I had Wu figure out everything, I realized "Oh crap, he's shocked when it's Lloyd who's revealed to be the green ninja... I gotta fix this..." so I wiped his memory of it! :D Easy fix. And who knows guys, maybe our elemental roommates will be back soon... who knows...**

**And thus this story arc is concluded, thank you so much for reading. As of right now, this story is going on about two to four weeks of hiatus so I can work on the other stuff and to gather up more ideas for this one :)**

**~Mar**


	88. That Darn Cat

Lloyd wriggled around in his dad's arms. He was just trying to lay him down on the changing table with no luck whatsoever. The ten month old baby was proving to be a trouble maker for a child who all but crawl around. "Lloyd… come on…" Garmadon complained as he had to pick him up again. "Chill it out will you!?"

His wife quickly came running in and sighed, taking Lloyd from him who instantly stopped squirming around and looked up at her with his round eyes. "Come on… don't you wanna get changed baby? Or do you want to sit in that gross diaper?!" she frowned.

"Why does he do that with you?!" her husband looked down at their baby. "Why does he always quiet down and stop struggling as soon as you step in?" It wasn't that he was jealous… okay so it was that he was jealous, why did they have to be so close?

"Maybe it's because you're always afraid you'll drop him or break him or something…" she rubbed Lloyd's back and smiled a bit. "Lucky for you though I'll be out all day tomorrow with the girls, so you two get to have the whole day to yourselves, won't that be fun?" she cooed at her son who opened his mouth in a toothless little smile. "Maybe you and the guys can have a fathers' babysitting club tomorrow too," she chuckled and passed him back to Garmadon.

"Ha ha… I don't need their help just because they have older kids…" he grimaced. He never raised a baby for this long before; it was still so new to him like Lloyd really was their first child. "We can fun on our own," he held Lloyd to his chest, "Hopefully…" he mumbled.

His wife chuckled and kissed his cheek, "Well… I'm sure you will…"

* * *

><p>Tanaka sat on the porch of his brother's house, staring off into space like he normally did. Seliel was running around, playing with her best friend and some of the other kids she grew up with. Then he noticed Zane, sitting up in a tree, looking down at them run around and laughing as they chased each other.<p>

The lavender clothed ninja swung his legs so they were resting on the steps and frowned. "What's up?" he looked over and saw his older brother sit down beside him.

"Zane is in a tree… and I wonder why he does not play with the others… that is all…" Tanaka shrugged.

"From what I heard from our grandparents… you were that odd too," the brunette with gray streaks chuckled, "Eh maybe he just was used to Yosho Island… maybe he likes it where it's cold all year round better… if that's all he knew or remembers of course…"

"It's been nearly year," he raised an eyebrow and fell silent. "I… have been thinking of moving back home… in all honesty I mean… Every time I visit, it makes it harder to leave… especially since grandmother passed a few months ago too…" he crossed his legs, sighing. "I thought I would get over it after staying for so long down south here".

Crevan leaned back but nodded his head, "I don't blame you… it's completely boring out here in Birchwood…" he yawned. "Treehorns don't even come this way like they used to so there's no excitement of rounding up people to heard them back to their side… Seliel'll miss ya though. She's really grown attached to you."

The younger smiled as he looked at his niece with the magenta hair and flew in the wind behind her, "And I would miss her as well… but don't worry, I think maybe we'll come visit in the winters… I honestly prefer cold as well Cre," he stood up. "The only problem is… I will be far off from my brothers and sisters of the monastery…" he remembered, looking down at the ground. "I owe them much…"

"Yosho's not that far… its borders are about hundred miles, give or take, from here and we're not even that far from Ninjago City, I wouldn't worry about moving back home Tana, I'm sure the others would want you to be happy if you aren't now," he clapped his brother's back lightly, "Ninjago's been the most peaceful it's ever been, I think it's okay to relax for a little bit, you know?"

"Oh I hope you are right about that my brother," Tanaka let out a breath. "Because we're all getting older… aren't we?"

* * *

><p>"Okay, got the list?" Misako cautiously asked her husband as he sat on the couch with Lloyd in his lap, watching the television. He looked over to her and raised the piece of paper silently. "Hmm… okay, no kidnappings, don't let him out of your sight for longer than three minutes, and make sure all the silverware and scissors are put away and out of reach, you know he's becoming a bit of a climber now and it's only a matter of time till he can walk on his own". He read it aloud before dropping the paper in his lap.<p>

"You worry too much…" the father yawned, lounging back more, "I got this, really!" Misako pursed her lips and shook her head, readjusting the strap of her bag and left at last. "Alright kiddo…" Garmadon looked down at the green eyed baby, "Just you and me all day long…"

At first Lloyd looked around a bit, bewildered at why Misako wasn't there now. "Aw… come on…" the brunette sighed when Lloyd whimpered, "I'm just as good as mommy! I promise!" he started to panic. His wife was barely gone two minutes and he managed to make the baby cry! "Shh… please, come on, she'll be back!" he held him up more in his lap. "Uh… what would Mimi do… uuuh… Here…" he put the binky in the baby's mouth which got him to shut up right away.

Garmadon slouched back, breathing in relief from that small spurt of panic he just had. The infant stared up at him when his dad turned him around to face him, chewing on the binky mindlessly. He pulled it out of his mouth clumsily after a minute of sucking on it and raised his hand up, "Da!" he sounded, placing his small hand on his dad's chest.

"Yes… dada," he cooed a bit to him. Garmadon couldn't help but smile as he scooped him up and kissed him several times, delighted to see Lloyd was going to be good today, "It looks like we will get along fine…" he quietly chuckled, cuddling the baby closer. "I love you so much buddy…" he patted his son's soft blonde hair as he nuzzled closer to his chest, cooing more.

The reason he didn't want to hang around Kasai and the other dads? Embarrassment. Everyone knew Garmadon's pride issues and how he hated when Misako referred to him as a terrifying dragon with a very,_ very_ big soft spot he hid.

He also would never admit to it, but Garmadon was always afraid of having another child after what happened the last time. When Wu called him saying that Ronin had Lloyd kidnapped so that his wife would give up the information, he thought it was just a mistake again, but slowly he realized that whenever Lloyd smiled or simply moved closer to him, all that anxious thinking went away, he was here, all three of them were, and they were going to be just fine.

After a few minutes the two had gone out back, sitting in the backyard when they suddenly heard a meowing noise. Garmadon frowned and looked over to see his son crawling towards little black kitten that had wandered into the yard. He raised an eyebrow and moved closer to the two. "What did ya find Lloyd?" the infant pretty much plopped his head down on the fluffy black cat who seemed like him a lot. "Oh no… I said from the beginning I was not a pet person…"

It looked too cute though… and Lloyd liked her… he groaned to himself at the precious sight before him. He could not resist so much cute. "Not even walking yet and my own son is asking for a pet…" he shook his head in disbelief, these things only happened to him, didn't they?

"I don't believe this…" he sighed as he let the cat in. "What am I getting myself into?" he ran a hand through his dark hair. The baby reached a hand over to pat the kitten on the back. She mewed and poked her nose up to his cheek, making Lloyd squeal with laughter. He smiled again at seeing the baby. "Fine… we'll keep her… but I don't know what your mother will say about this one when she sees what we've done today…" He went into the fridge to get milk for her.

* * *

><p>It was late when Misako got back. She froze when hearing cat loudly purring and quickly headed into the living room to see Garmadon passed out on the couch, Lloyd curled up on his chest with a kitten as small as he was. She grabbed the remote and turned the television off and kissed her husband's cheek.<p>

"Garmadon… wake up love," she quietly said in his ear. "I want to know how a little kitty got in the house…" she bit her lip, wondering if he let her in or not.

"Hmm…?" he opened one eye and stared up at her. She chuckled. "I… uh… Lloyd found her out back…" he coughed, knowing she wanted an explanation of the kitten. "And he liked her…"

"Uh-huh…" the lighter haired woman picked the kitten up. "Oh she is a sweetheart…" she laughed as the cat nosed right up, under her chin like they were friends for her years. "Let's give you a name… shall we?" she scratched the black cat's ear. "Did you even?"

Garmadon sat up more, careful not to wake sleeping Lloyd, "Lloyd named her Nina…" he mumbled. She raised an eyebrow. "I know… he kept repeating something and it sounded like Nina… okay? I went with that and he laughed when I asked!"

Misako sat down on the edge of the couch and set Nina down before picking her son up. "Lloyd baby… I'm home," she kissed his forehead. "Did you have fun with daddy today?" she soothingly said, holding him to her chest, rubbing his back a bit. "It looks like you did…" She then noticed the way Garmadon was looking at her. "What?"

His eyes quickly darted away from her. "Nothing…" now it was her turn to look at him. "I… I'm just… happy…"

The next thing he knew, she butted up her forehead to his, her green eyes staring intently into his dull, red ones from behind her lenses, one arm still around their infant. "I never thought I'd get to hear you say something like that ever again…"

"Maybe I should start feeling like this more often…" they pressed their lips to one another's for a moment.

Misako looked down at Lloyd, smiling still, "Come on… he's asleep… and I think you want a break from today as well…" she got up to go lay the baby down in his crib. Garmadon suddenly blushed, realizing what she meant and quickly followed her up the stairs.

**Oh look, I threw in the cat again because WHY NOT?! You all loved Nina when she made her debut in Simple Things and went crazy when she came back in Getting Back Together and her other guest appearances in holiday specials, now see her pop back into this story line!**

**Haha... so yea I'm attempting to try to do once a week updates again. No promises on two a week... Still working on getting other fics back on their feet... So I guess a filler chapter is needed because who doesn't love baby Lloyd and cats!? Besides... after this? It will only get worse... sorry guys... I've prolonged it long enough I think...**

**So thanks for reading! See you guys later!**

**~Mar**


	89. Stay at Home Dad

Misako was finally back to work, which meant that Garmadon was officially deciding to be a stay at home dad. He finally trusted himself to take full care and responsibility of Lloyd who was a week over one… and starting to get around faster, making it harder for Garmadon, but he wasn't going to tell his wife their son was too much for him to handle!

"Wow… look at him go…" Wu watched Lloyd attempt to chase the cat around who seemed to want to play this game with him.

"Wu… he… he's just tiring me out!" Garmadon nervously looked at the laughing baby. "I can't handle this! And if I tell Misako, she'll quit her job and I don't want her to do that! She loves it at the museum! And I couldn't just go and work… I kind of hate running that bar for Kasai… as it is I promised him I'd do weekend nights just so they can continue to make enough keep it without getting shut down because of that cousin doesn't work there all the time…"

"Yea I'm surprised you're nice enough to do that-OUCH!" The older brother had flicked his younger sibling between the eyes. "Hey! I'm just saying you're kind of a jerk half the time!" He received another flick. "Okay okay! Sheesh… you better watch it is all I'm saying… you know this place is almost paid off and you should be happy to help Misako out in any way that you can…"

Garmadon just grumbled. Lloyd interrupted though by suddenly grabbing his legs. The father sighed and pulled him into his lap, "Can you nap now and save me grief?"

The younger brother chuckled, "Amazing! The mighty warrior Garmadon is defeated by his own tiny offspring… you better just hope that won't go into the history books when we're long gone".

"This isn't a joke!" The brunette shoved his brother's shoulder, hard, hugging Lloyd close. "You know Misako always sacrifices herself for others… especially me of all people! If she finds out I'm not handling this stay at home parent thing so great, she's gonna make me get a full time job instead and I told you I don't wanna be away from him long like that… either of them to be honest…" Lloyd had plopped back on the floor to run around again.

"Well… seems you're caught between a rock and hard place huh brother?" he looked back to Lloyd who fell back on his bottom, almost about to cry when Nina trotted over to him again and sat in his lap, making the baby start to smile and laugh again. "Why don't you just ask if she can take a day off here and there so you can spend time together? I'm sure it would help just spending time with her… I could watch Lloyd even for you guys sometimes. Her boss seems nice enough and we've done a lot for the museum after all".

Garmadon flopped back on the couch, "Again, it's never a little with her… I don't just wanna throw him off on someone or switch out jobs with Misako… I love him… I really do but I can't just take care of him twenty four seven like how it's been the past week…"

"Oh yea, Misako said she was put in charge of the Stone War exhibit right? They're expanding it I heard with the new artifacts that were found," Wu perked up, interested now. "And… why don't you just take Lloyd to the museum and surprise her every once in a while… you use to do that before he came along and it seemed to make you and her both happy…"

"Ugh, I hate when you give out advice that's good…" the older sibling mumbled. "I'd love to see how you handle him for a whole day," he started to laugh at seeing his brother fail even more at caring for his son.

"Well… I need to leave," Wu stood up, dusting his pants off, "That cat sheds like crazy and you know I'm allergic… I want to be able to drive home without my eyes getting all puffy," the blonde started out the door but picked Lloyd up first. "See you later buddy, okay? I'll definitely see ya next Sunday".

"Kay," Lloyd piped and happily gave his uncle a hug.

Not long after, Lloyd was tired out completely thanks to Nina. One thing Garmadon could always rely on from the cat was that she seemed to want to help the fairly new father take care of Lloyd. He had the sleeping baby in his lap; sitting on the floor against the couch, head rested back on his knees, starting to doze off while his dad watched him.

_It won't last forever you know… bad guys can't be loving fathers…_

Garmadon stiffened. _"Not this again…"_ he sighed. _"Maybe I don't want to be a bad guy… I'm perfectly fine being daddy…"_

_But it's your destiny! This baby will mean nothing to you soon enough Lord Garmadon… _

Lord Garmadon? It never called him that before. He shook his head, looking at his son who seemed to be alerted to some new presence. He lifted a hand, reaching out to Garmadon. The older man looked around and gently took the baby's hand and whatever the voice was saying had stopped. He stared at Lloyd and shook his head.

"Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon… you are the greatest thing that has ever happened to me…" he quietly said, holding his child closer, never wanting to let him go ever again suddenly. "I'll fight it… I promise…" he kissed him several more times before standing up to lay him down for a nap. "For you… and mommy and uncle Wu… for the others even…" he whispered quietly. "I would be nowhere without you…"

* * *

><p>Anthony dug the tip of the sword in the soft dirt, hand on the butt of the handle still. "Fine piece of work… I must say Kasai… outdone yourself this time I believe," he looked up at the younger blacksmith, admiring the blade. "Business been good then for you?"<p>

"Great as usual… sort of… been repairing tools and farming equipment more than anything but… yea… master Hiroshi actually said he was visiting again to see how everyone was doing…" the black haired one sheathed his own sword. "The sword is to your liking then?" he asked, eyebrow raised.

The older one chuckled with a nod, "Yes… Lilith will love her birthday gift I'm most certain… and what better place to get a sword than the greatest blacksmith in all of Ninjago?"

"You flatter me Tony," Kasai placed the other sword on the rack, looking back. "Gotta get back I take it? You live all the way in Sina for cryin out loud… why'd ya move over there anyways? Pain in the neck for when we gotta bring you in on something".

"Eh, when Megan was born Lily wanted to be closer to her own family… ya know, since Meg inherited the shadow ability… trust me it's not that fun for me because she's starting to hide in shadows and stuff trying to scare me and her brothers… to top it off, her family all dark and creepy… like vampires almost I would say… don't tell her brother I said that if you ever got the chance to meet him… please…"

"Of course Anthony," Kasai laughed, accepting the payment. "Oh hey, you gonna be in town when Misako's new exhibit opens? She's been working awfully hard on it".

"Uh, what's it on anyways?" he seemed a bit distracted with other things on his mind.

"They totally uncovered the old fortress back from the Stone Wars and even recovered some of the armor and statues. Looks pretty cool if you ask me. Misako seems ecstatic about it. Never seen her so happy in my entire like really, she's even asking if she can help restore the fortress next".

"Hmm," Anthony frowned, "I'll try to make it when it opens for sure. For now… I got five kids to look after and a sword to deliver. See ya around; tell Namiko I'm sorry I missed her!"

"Will do!" Kasai turned to see his two children standing side by side. Kai looked to have bloodshot eyes from crying and Nya looked incredibly worried for him. "Well now… what happed with you two?"

Nya looked at the ground while Kai wiped his nose on his sleeve, "Kai… dropped a hammer on his foot…" she held her hands behind her back. "He tried being funny for me…"

Their father sighed and picked Kai up, "Hey buddy, you're gonna be okay… take off your shoe and let me see it…" he told the young boy, sitting him down on the couch, Nya right at his side, trying to help in any way she could. "Well Kai, my young man… you will live," he tried to make a joke out of it which it did make the little brown eyed boy laugh a bit. "Come on, I'll get you an ice pack and you'll be okay… mommy will take a better look when she gets back".

"Kay…" Kai mumbled while Nya plopped her stuffed dragon in his lap with a bright smile.

"When you've iced it," their father returned with the ice pack, "we're gonna go pick mommy up at work, okay?" the two nodded happily. "Then we're going to head over to the tavern to see how things are with Daisie". During the week days, Namiko had a younger cousin who had gotten in touch with her again recently and offered to help run the place.

* * *

><p>Misako was eagerly greeted by her husband as soon as she walked out of the doors of the museum. "Well… look at you…" she laughed, "I can't remember the last time you drove over to pick me up…" the green eyed woman turned around, "Sonia, it's okay! I got a ride after all!" And then promptly ran down the steps into his arms. "Miss me?"<p>

"Of course," he chuckled, rubbing noses with her. "Come on," he walked with her to the parked car, Lloyd in his car seat in the back.

"Hey baby!" Misako opened the door and sat on the seat, wanting to greet their little one before getting home. He smiled brightly and struggled against the straps, wanting to be near her. "Oh you happy little baby," she cooed, leaning over to kiss his cheek. "I missed you too! I'll hold you when we get home love".

She got out and plopped down in the front seat. "Sorry I've been so busy with this new project… I know you must be tired of taking care of him day and night when I'm not around…" she sighed, looking over at her husband, starting to feel a bit bad.

"It's okay… really, I'm just happy to know that you're almost done with it… it's opening in like two weeks…" he slouched back in the driver's seat. "But don't worry about me… I'm just proud of you…"

While driving she looked over and noticed he looked a bit different than she remembered all of a sudden. Paler; more tired with dark circles and lines around his eyes. "Hey… do you get enough sleep anymore?" she asked, concerned. He stared at her when they reached a red light. "You… just… I didn't notice until now I guess… that's all…"

"I won't lie…" he pressed down on the pedal to go. "I need to be around you or Lloyd as much as I can… I'm hearing things again Mimi… I don't like it…" he felt her hand grasp his right hand that was still on the wheel, "One reason I'm… not so excited about you working a lot like this… being left alone with him… I just don't want to hurt him…"

The two looked back at the back of their infant's head. "I understand…" she nodded. "I promise, first thing after the special opening for this, I'm all yours… I'll tell Mr. Wilson I want on wait on the restoration project… and I'll cash in on my vacation days I have stocked up and we can do whatever you want… the two of us… or as a family… whatever it is, I'm all yours".

He leaned across to give her a quick kiss which prompted her to lean back over and plant one on his cheek, making him blush. "Tomorrow, date night. I don't have to be in at all… and I can see you need me".

**I'm leading into something new... Lloyd's a year old... three more years until... ya know... I have to do it... I have to break them all apart... but I have an epilogue planned also that is not as sad :D **

**hard to believe after almost 90 chapters the story evolved at least four times and still hasn't gotten to the super bad stuff... I mean really... I estimate like 10-20 more chapters and then it'll all be done... **

**Anyways, thanks for reading! See ya later!**


	90. The Messenger

A date night was a very nice change compared to the rut they were in the past few months or so. Wu was watching Lloyd at home because he had nothing better to do with his time anyways and it would be good for Lloyd to get used to other people watching him when stuff like this was planned. The baby was getting really attached to just his parents.

"Garmadon… I really don't wanna talk about it… it's work and we're not talking about my work when we're trying to not think about it…" she mumbled. He had started asking her questions about the first war with his father since she was working on it currently. "I told you… the Overlord can't come back stupid… there's not likely anything big and important coming… why the sudden interest anyways?"

He shrugged a bit, "I don't know… I was looking at the work you take home… guess it's just… different than the usual… not mention… well, I get nervous about the whole… bitten by a legendary snake thing like in my mom's journal… maybe I'm really just worried over nothing but old junk from thousands of years ago…"

"Hey," she poked his nose from across the table to get his attention back, "My artifacts are not _junk_". The two started to laugh. "Come on now… has Lloyd been a bother? I really want to know… every time I come home you look exhausted… I'm starting to get really worried too after what you told me last night…"

"Yea right…" the husband shook his head, "Keeping the voice out of my head is easy so far… but my main problem… well… He just tires me out… chasing him around… we're getting older Mimi… I sometimes wish we had him when we were a few years younger," he admitted with a little chuckle, trying to not make it seem like a big deal.

"Tanaka was right though, we can't really do what we were able to... fighting wars… super villains and magical creatures… if I break one more bone now, I'll be out of the game for a lot longer than I'd like… Wu started talking about getting students and starting to wind down his fighting… he even mentioned Lloyd being one of the students he wanted to take on…" he now looked disgruntled by that thought.

"Well… what's wrong with that?" his wife frowned. "We're ninja… masters of Spinjitsu… historical figures now from what I hear from everybody around me… we did so much for this country… and you don't want our son to follow in our footsteps too? He's your father's legacy… no, more importantly, he's _your_ legacy," she corrected herself quickly.

Still, the red eyed ninja shook his head more, "No… you see; that's it… you and me? Did we really make the decision to be who we are right now? No… we were what? Two years old when my father decided who we were going to be: his students… and we just accepted it because it was all we ever knew… when you think about it… we kind of were trained to be little killing machines and we never questioned it…"

"Garmadon…" Misako sighed, wiping her eyes, "Come on… I mean… I really understand, it was wrong to not give us a real choice in the matter… but you're saying that you don't enjoy this lifestyle we've lived for forty years? You always talk about how happy you are getting the glory and fighting and all that… I find it hard to believe you hate our lives all of a sudden…"

He tilted his head, "I like it just because I met you…" he smiled when she straightened up, blushing a bit, "Really though, I mean it… I… I don't know… if Lloyd took a real interest in this kind of stuff… I guess that would be nice… but I wouldn't want Wu to teach him at least".

"Oh I know he'll wanna be just like daddy… I can tell, but-" she chuckled but stopped, "Ooh, I can't believe it… sibling rivalry… I knew it!" She smirked while her husband groaned; she wasn't going to let this one go so easily now, "You're his father so you want to train him… right?"

"Okay it's partially that, yes," he looked away, admitting to it. The darker haired one shook his head, "You know… I'm sure if I wasn't trained to be a ninja, I never would have… well ended up like this," he pointed to his red eyes. "I mean people look at me some days like I'm odd…" he looked to his left and saw a few kids turn their heads back to their table, embarrassed of being caught staring. "See?!"

"You don't need red eyes to tell your odd sweetie…" she chuckled a bit nervously. "Even when we were little you didn't really change all that much from your normal temperament…"

"Point taken but… oh forget it, I'll get nowhere with you will I?" he waved his hand while she laughed all the same, leaning on her elbow. "You're a thickheaded earth ninja and that's all you ever will be". The two leaned across their table, pressing their lips against one another sweetly.

Something suddenly buzzed in the back of their minds and they broke apart, looking around. "You felt it too then…?" she quietly asked, looking around and across the street from where they were sitting outside.

He nodded, "but… what does that feel like…?"

"… Obsidian magic… I just know it…" Misako's eyes widened and she looked around, wondering if Ronin had returned or something like that, she remembered the strange feelings last time they encountered one another. "Oh please tell me he's not back…" she felt him squeeze her hand.

_"__No… it's not who you think… I just came to give a message…"_

Garmadon sighed, "What hell does that stupid gargoyle want now?" he slammed his fist on the table. "Where the hell are you Gahrann!?"

_"__Just wanted to tip you off… something big is coming… bigger than you and your little friends can handle maybe!" _ the voice laughed. _"See you around maybe! I'm sticking around to get caught in the middle of the Underworldly monsters! Haha!"_

It ended. The couple looked at one another, groaning. "Check please…" Misako leaned more against the table, wiping her eyes tiredly, feeling stressed out again. "Looks like we'll have to do this some other time honey…" she angrily moved her chair out. "Gods forbid we have a moment of peace and quiet…" she mumbled.

"I hear ya…" he grabbed her jacket for her and started out to the car with her, even more irritated than she was feeling. "What do you think it is he was talking about? Underworldly…?"

Misako shrugged, "I doubt it's anything that major… for all we know, he just wants to screw with us after seeing us relaxing…" she trailed off, biting her lip. The couple exchanged looks, seeming to be thinking the same thing.

"Hey… what if the Skulkin really are back?" Garmadon dared to suggest.

His wife continued walking though he was still stopped, "What makes you even think of that!? We sent him hightailing it back to the Underworld after the war…" she swallowed, also remembering the day their daughter was born. "Let's say you're right and Gahrann isn't messing with us… What are we really going to do about it?" she plopped down in the passenger seat while he got in the driver's.

"Well, we end it before it begins…" he started the car up. "What else is there really to do about?" he could feel the irritation of all the winding him up more. He wanted to stay and be with his Lloyd, he didn't have time anymore to give his life for Ninjago; neither of them should.

In his mind, him, Misako, and everyone on the team had sacrifice a good majority of their lives to keeping the little people of Ninjago out of harm's way for the most part, and did they ever get as much recognition as they deserved? No, they just had to work work work all the time and everything had backlash.

"Hey you need to relax…" Misako finally spoke up seeing him tense up more, angrily thinking. "I'm not happy either… but… have you seen your face?" she blinked. Garmadon just sighed, easing up a bit as he drove back to the house to tell Wu about what happened.

* * *

><p>Lloyd sat between his father's legs, playing with toy blocks while the adults around him spoke, naturally he didn't understand what they were saying.<p>

"Samukai hasn't made any moves for years… why would you suspect that it was him because of Gahrann told you?" Wu sat back, thinking it over. "I mean… Underworldly…? There are plenty of creatures in the Underworld it could be… Skulkin were supposed to be the mediators down there is all…" To be honest, it was just his wishful thinking.

"I have a feeling… those two don't like each other so maybe Gahrann doesn't like something Samukai and the Skulkin are up to…" Garmadon scratched the back of his head. "Or…" he looked to his wife. "You don't think it has something to do with the exhibit…?"

"Possibly…" his wife nodded, considering it. "Never thought about somebody like that crashing the party… there will be some dormant pieces of magical artifacts and armor and such…" she looked at the two brothers, "who wants to break out the weapons again?" she smirked a bit. "We're getting a bit rusty anyways… aren't we? We need to keep up practice…"

Wu and Garmadon exchanged looks and agreed; she was right. "I guess we should be monitoring Skulkin activity… we know they make their way to the surface here and there to cause mischief… I'll let the others know so they can also keep an eye out for stuff". The younger stood up at last. "Sorry to say… things were getting pretty boring around here," he chuckled. "See you guys later!"

* * *

><p>Namiko lazily sat around, on her break when her phone buzzed. She picked it up and blinked at the lit up screen that showed the text message, starting to smile a bit wider. "Hey, what's up? You look giddy," one of the other girls she worked with frowned, noticing her sudden mood change.<p>

"I'm taking the week off I think!" she squealed. "Finally… Skulkin threat lookout's better than mundane everyday work…" she smirked wider if that was even possible, grabbing her bag and clocking out. "See you guys later! I gotta get back home right away!" the others all grumbled, jealous of the brown haired nurse who pulled her phone out, typing a message into it.

* * *

><p>Rose closed down the computer and turned to her phone that Sonia had slid across the desk. She flipped it open and smiled just a bit at the message she received from Namiko. "Hehe," she texted back on it. "Sonia, I'll be out for a couple of days too with Misako! Make sure you file these and finish sending the e-mails to the sponsors about the reopening of the exhibit showcasing this weekend, okay?"<p>

The chestnut haired woman sighed after dropping a pile of binders. "What is it?! First Misako decides she wants vacation time at last… now you're running off! What's up!? Is it ninja related stuff? I can't do everything by myself! I thought this job would have gotten easier with the three of us! I'm still stuck behind…" she mumbled.

"We might have a Skulkin problem though! Isn't exciting?!" the taller one grabbed the other's shoulders and started out the door, seeing she was less that thrilled, "Tell Mr. Wilson I'll be gone!" she grabbed her purse and started out the doors of the museum. "Better tell Tony and Cre this!" she pulled her phone out again. "Call me if you have any problems though!"

"Thanks…" Sonia sighed, waving limply. "See you later then…" she plopped back in the chair, turning to the computer screen and cracking her knuckles. "Let's do this then…"

* * *

><p>Misako looked at her phone, going through the list of messages while lying in bed. "Everyone but Tanaka is showing up tomorrow, they all got time off from work to look into this with us," she told her husband. "I figured Tanaka would be busy up north… he didn't plan anything down here until November but he's doing his own research up there in Yosho," she yawned, setting the phone down on the nightstand, turning back to her husband, holding one another.<p>

"I got a bad feeling about this… if we're being honest here…" the taller one sighed, closing his eyes and pulling her closer to him.

She looked back at him, "Gonna be able to sleep tonight?" she asked.

"I'm good… don't worry about me, I'm perfectly fine right now with you here…" he tried to sound tired. A few minutes later his wife fell asleep and he stroked her long hair, gently kissing the top of her head. "Besides… I'm getting used to not sleeping so much anymore anyways…" he finished the thought, staring up at the ceiling.

**This idea was kind of spawned a little while back by a friend's drawing... the babies are gonna be in more peril... I'm trying to get so ahead I can do two updates a week... so hopefully, look forward to an update on Friday as well! :3**

**So thanks for reading, see you guys later!**

**~Mar**


	91. Concern

"Skulkin activity has been going on mainly here…" Kasai pointed to the map around the Fire Temple. "The journal does mention about other ways of getting to the Underworld without dragons… and as I recall, this is one of them and it kind of makes sense," he sat back in the dining room chair.

"So we have all of the Skulkin coming in and out of there it looks like… I wonder what they're trafficking…" Crevan nodded along with the theory, "Well, at least we know they'll be taking routes through Ignacia so it's centralized… I wonder what they could be setting up…"

"Kasai works from home so… you'll be the head on this one with Wu… think you can handle that you two?" Misako looked at her brother in law and his best friend. She was rather cautious when asking, knowing their track record wasn't the neatest.

They mock saluted her. "Aye aye, just leave it to us!" Wu chuckled with Kasai. The others exchanged glances, almost like they were worried, and they kind of were. The two were great friends since they were all kids… it was just that in the field… well… they could be a bit childish from time to time.

"Hey, seriously, we got this, we'll take it seriously and not screw anything up and get caught this time, I swear!" Kasai saw their worried looks.

"Well… alright then…" Rose bit her lip, still thinking they could screw it up. "Anthony said he can't make down as well for at least a couple of weeks, so… looks like it's just the seven of us on this one for the most part!" she half smiled.

"Ma! Ma!" the adults turned to see Lloyd hurriedly running out, grabbing his mother's leg tightly.

The mother picked him up and frowned, "What is it baby?" she frowned, looking him over to see if anything was wrong. He didn't looking scared or anything, but there was a bit of worry on his pudgy baby features. "I'll be right back… Garmadon probably fell asleep playing with him again… better tell him what's up…"

"Alright," Namiko turned back to the map, talking with the others there.

* * *

><p>Misako poked her head into the nursery and frowned as well. "Hey, everything…" she trailed off. Garmadon looked back at her, eyes wide. She could tell his eyes were brighter than they were normally. She held Lloyd a bit tighter and slowly walked over. "Hey…" she lifted a hand to his face, looking worried too now.<p>

He reached his hand up and grabbed hers, closing his eyes. "I just…" he mumbled, squeezing her hand tighter. Lloyd looked at both parents curiously and reached his arms out. Misako still kept a hand on the little boy but he wrapped his arms around his father's neck.

"You've been lying to me again…" she quietly told him. He looked away from her eyes, "You're not alright and you can't handle it… you haven't been sleeping at all have you?"

"Way to rat me out you little stinker…" he lifted an arm around his son, kissing the top of his head. "Mommy didn't have to know…"

"Yes… mommy did…" she almost looked offended. "We're a team… remember?" she pulled Lloyd back into her arms, "Garmadon, if you can't trust me enough to be honest that you need help… then what am I here for anymore? When we decided to get married it was going to be like it always was but with rings on our fingers and a house of our own…"

He turned his head away more from her. "Please just talk to me like how it used to be… you said so the other day you were going to be honest… how long have you been hearing things again!? You always do this, you shut me out!"

"I'm sorry…" he pathetically answered. "I just…" he shook his head more, not being able to convey through words apparently, "This just isn't working out… is it? My dad was right; this was going to end badly if I married you…"

He started to walk past her but she grabbed his arm tightly, making him stop, "Prove him wrong then," there was a deafening silence for a few moments after she said that to him. "Don't take what he said… prove him that we are meant to be together… go against what he said like you always did…"

Lloyd was peeking over her other shoulder, confused by what his parents were talking about. The taller parent wiped his tired eyes and sighed, turning back to face her again, "I don't understand what's happening to me…" he picked both Misako and Lloyd up.

"You'll be okay…" she kissed his cheek gently, her free arm rubbing his upper back. "Come on… we're sorting our surveillance plans… we could use some help," she kindly smiled at him. "We narrowed it down to the Fire Temple by Ignacia".

He groaned a bit and walked downstairs with her to find, Kasai was standing up, on the phone with someone and looking rather anxious. Namiko was just rubbing her eyes that seemed to be bloodshot. It was such a short time she was upstairs, what could have possibly of happened?!

"That was Hiroshi… you remember him right?" Kasai quietly asked.

"The famous blacksmith who trained you for a while? Yea we remember," Crevan asked.

"Yes… he's like a second father to me… he was the one watching the kids while we were here because he was coming to stay with us for a while… and…" he ran a hand through his hair. "Few houses down way, close to town square were just torn apart… he said he saw Samukai there and the kids got hurt in the scramble or something… got some burns and I think Nya bopped her head so at least I know they should be okay…"

"Go on then, we'll catch up with you both later! Call us if anything else changes!" Rose practically was pushing them out the door, freaking out as well now. "GO!"

Lloyd was peeking over his mother's shoulder, looking at Garmadon with his round, green eyes, curiously. Garmadon noticed and blinked. Lloyd just kept staring. The father sighed and quickly kissed him between the eyes, which followed by his son's laughter. He smiled just a little bit again.

Misako looked over her shoulder and back down at the little boy. "Here," she passed him into her husband's waiting arms. "Change his pajamas, we're gonna be heading down in a minute to see Kai and Nya…" she went to grab their jackets.

* * *

><p>Garmadon changed Lloyd from his dark blue pajamas, slipping a dark green onesie covered in white paw prints on him. The little blonde boy reached a hand up to his dad who took it. "What?" he frowned, "You shouldn't get so close to me you know…"<p>

He picked him up again, giving into his little whines, "I love you too buddy…" he sighed with a smile, it was nice to know he was loved unconditionally by this little boy. "Come on, mommy is waiting for us in the car…" he kissed his head several more times.

* * *

><p>Upon getting there, Kasai was squeezing the life out of both of his kids who were just dazed by everything still. "I was so worried! I thought you could have died!" he kept going on. Namiko was just tiredly smiling, relieved that they were okay, patting her husband's back, trying to get him to let go of the two.<p>

Finally the blacksmith did, allowing his wife to get some hug time in. "I'm happy you're both safe…" She kissed their cheeks gently, feeling them hug her back. "We didn't know what to think when Hiroshi called us… you're okay though?"

Nya sniffled, nodding with her older brother. "Yea…" she wiped her eye, feeling tired now after everything.

"Well then, I think you're allowed to come home now that everything's take care of with you two," Namiko kissed her daughter between the eyes. "And you can just sit and relax because it's all over and you're safe".

"I'm so sorry this happened," the older, retired blacksmith apologized a few more times to the parents, "I should have kept a better eye on them when all the chaos started and the next thing I knew Kai took off on me," he turned to Kasai, bowing a bit. Kasai hugged him though despite the apology.

"Thanks for taking care of everything… as long as it wasn't as bad as I thought it was," the younger man chuckled a bit when Kai fidgeted a bit in his arms.

Garmadon just watched the short exchange, tightening his arms around Lloyd. Just thinking about his son in Kai or Nya's position made him sick to his stomach. The young boy looked around curiously; ignoring his father's scared looks. _"I don't know what I would do if you were hurt… especially because of me… there were times where you were so close to danger…"_

Misako and Rose looked at him, keeping quiet. They realized what he was thinking and Misako touched his shoulder, "Hey… don't worry, he'll be okay… we're not going to let anyone else get hurt… especially our baby". She stood on her tip toes, kissing his cheek.

"Tomorrow Kas and I will head out early then," Wu joined the conversation. "I'd gladly go toe to toe with Samukai," he cockily smirked.

Garmadon gave a fainter smirk, elbowing the younger sibling, "Just keep in mind little brother… you better not get in over your head like you always do".

"Pfft, I'll be fine," the blonde chuckled.

**No better title tbh. Diella is coming back soon by the way. Hehe... well... not much to say about this one... but hey, I'm about two chapters ahead on this story so go me! :D **

**See you guys Friday and thanks for reading! :3**

**~Mar**


	92. Plan of Action

"Look at them all…" Wu swallowed as he and Kasai were watching a group of Skulkin meandering around the Fire Temple, obviously up to something. "I wonder what they want this time…"

"Whatever it is… it must be affecting other creatures and stuff or something…" Kasai yawned. They had been there in their tree for the entire morning. The blacksmith just wanted to sleep right now but Wu wasn't going to let him anytime soon. "Come on… nothing interesting is happening so let's just go back and tell everyone we didn't see anything totally odd…"

Wu sighed, "You can go back if you want… I'm staying… someone should have an eye on them at all times…"

Kasai growled in frustration, hitting Wu in the back of the head, "You'll work yourself to death man… I bet you'll go bald sooner or later if you keep this stuff up… do you know what stressing over this junk does to people?" Wu perked up, glaring back at his best friend. "What? You probably will…"

Wu proceeded to shoved him over on to a lower branch to get him to be quiet at last. "Hey… what's up over there?" he then noticed a cart with a cage on it rolling up. "What's…?" he pulled out binoculars. "Why are they catching people like this?"

"Huh…" Kasai climbed back up. "What do you think they're going to do to them?" he frowned. "Ya know what? We gotta stop them right now," he unsheathed his sword and looked over to Wu who nodded, grabbing his own sword.

The pair hid in the bushes along the road, trying to listen to what the sentries were saying to one another as the cart passed by. "I wonder if Samukai's plans will work out…" one started.

Another yawned crankily, "Who cares… as long as there's more of us so we can move up in the ranks and not get stuck as sentries… it's been ages since someone was cursed to be a Skulkin…"

The black and blonde haired duo looked at one another in horror at the thought of that. "Okay… we need to stop this right here and now I think…" Wu peeked over the shrubs, angrily eyeing the skeletons as they escorted prisoners. "They're taking people before their time to die on top of this, come on!"

"We can't take all of them by ourselves Wu!" Kasai swallowed hard, getting nervous of being caught. "I don't wanna die with those people… if we call the others, then we can move in! Okay? Unlike you have kids that I do not want to be orphaned!"

"Hmmmm…" Wu groaned quietly, "Okay okay, let's just hurry though and tell them!"

* * *

><p>Misako lightly patted her son's back before readjusting her bra and shirt. She sat him up, burping him. "There you go…" she chuckled a bit, kissing his nose. "Come on," she stood up, carrying him downstairs where her husband and Rose were sitting around.<p>

"Wu and Kas are on their way back… said something creepy was going on with some prisoners or whatever," Rose yawned. "I'm just surprised they weren't captured again because let's face it… they did some bickering for sure".

Right on cue, the two younger men came through the door in a frantic rush. "Hey, check this out!" Wu grabbed the remote to the TV and there was news coverage of something they didn't quite see every day. "See? A bunch of people keep going missing? I bet you it's what Kasai and I found earlier!"

After sitting around and discussing the matter, the five adults frowned. "… Elixir of Death…" Misako clicked her tongue as she did often when something more troubled her. "There's a legendary one guarded by Skulkin that can bring a dead body back to life… and there's one of death guarded by the gargoyles believe it or not…"

"Is that why Gahrann came to drop a hint the other night?" Garmadon mumbled. "Even though he's pretty much a rogue he's still pissed that his people were stolen from like this?"

"Makes sense when you think about it… he may harvest people's energy through dreams, going against his race's code… but I'm sure he was angry at Ronin with the Obsidian Weapons situation… and he must be angry about this," Rose shrugged. "We should investigate this next…"

"Okay. But about those people who are being kidnapped to be tested and experimented with like this?!" Wu stood up, angry that he seemed to be the only one worried about those people. "We need to get them out and then worry about HOW they got this potion thing!"

"Wu, we can't just barge in…" Misako bounced Lloyd on her knee mindlessly while she talked to her anxious brother in-law. "Trust me, we're going to help them… but we need to prevent others getting taken too… so… we're going to organize a meeting with the matriarch of the Gargoyles". She decided.

"We'll have to go back to Diella then," Kasai nodded along. "She most likely knows the Gargoyles better than anyone other human in Ninjago… looks like we're going back to Sakura Falls! Hiroshi is still staying with us so he can watch the kids".

"Oh hey, speaking of which, Ikari finally got them a phone at long last," Misako remembered, pulling a piece of paper out. "He called earlier… nice to see Didi's adjusting to technology now like everyone else". She stood up, balancing Lloyd on her hip. "I'll give him a call and tell them what's up".

"Alright, see ya later, I gotta pick Cole up from school," Rose looked at the wall clock and started out the door quickly, followed by Kasai who was going back home. Wu hung around for a little bit.

"Oh here, hold him for a minute," Misako quickly passed her son to his uncle, distracted by the phone.

Wu smiled at his young nephew, ruffling his baby soft hair. Lloyd started fidgeting; upset that he wasn't who he thought it would be holding him. Wu looked back and saw Garmadon looking rather upset at the fact his brother was holding his son rather than him.

"Da!" Lloyd looked past as well, holding a hand up with a bright smile when he saw Garmadon over Wu's shoulder.

The older brother took him quickly, holding him close. Lloyd seemed rather content in his arms now as well. The blonde ninja frowned just a bit, rather than argue it, he backed off, "it's really nice to see he's so taken with you… it's kind of cute…"

The older seemed surprised by the remark he just looked back to his son and decided to smile.

"Kay it's all set, we're going down tomorrow…" Misako came back over. "Diella just requested that we bring Lloyd along with us," she chuckled a bit before turning back to Wu, "and as soon as we go tomorrow, we'll beat Samukai up… ok?"

He smiled a bit and nodded, "Of course, I know that… well, better leave and get out of your hair… I'm sure you have better things to do than to have me hang around… right? Besides, my allergies will flare up again if I'm over too long," he started out the door, eyeing the cat who seemed to do the same back at him.

"Hey," Misako shouted to him, "Come over later, dinner's at six!" Garmadon rolled his head back in silent complaint to his wife for going ahead and doing that. Before he could say anything she kissed his cheek. It pretty much stunned him for a few moments.

"You're so lucky I love you," he nuzzled the side of his wife's face instead rather than continue his complaining audibly.

"I know I am," she quietly answered, kissing him a second time.

* * *

><p>Diella answered the door happily despite the occasion in which they were visiting. "Wu, Misako, Kasai… Garmadon of course, come on in! And where's- Ooh there he is! He's gotten so big! He was just a month old last time I saw him!" she cooed at Lloyd who seemed to look at his dad, confused.<p>

"I know son, I know, just roll with it… come on," he lifted Lloyd up more, walking in with the other three that were able to come.

"Good to see you again… sorry everyone couldn't make it and that it wasn't on happier terms," Misako sighed, sitting down.

"Pff, I don't mind, I'm just happy to help you again… Vermilla said she'd love to meet you if you're offering help," Diella smiled happily. "I take it you've never been to the region where the Gargoyles live huh?" she sat back, looking at Wu, Garmadon, Misako, and Kasai.

"Where do they even live?" Kasai blinked, realizing this fact.

"The mountainous region by the Wailing Alps of course, up north, not as far as the Ice Palace though," Diella answered. "They live in an advanced tunnel system they made in the mountain pass there. I'll be accompanying you actually. The only way you can get into the hidden fortress is someone has to know Obsidian magic… you might want leave your son at home though, it's not exactly human baby friendly," she eyed the toddler on his parents' laps.

They partially had expected that to be the case, they wouldn't take a baby there on a mission anyways.

"Tomorrow, whoever is going will meet me in Hikari Village, that's about a center point to where everyone is, right?" Diella asked.

"Yes, it's right by the Mountain of Impossible Heights where I live," Wu spoke up for the others. "It'll probably be five or six of us going since the whole team can't make it unfortunately".

"Sounds good then," the older woman smiled, clapping her hands twice. "I'm so happy to be working with you kids again!"

"Kids?" Wu and Garmadon exchanged a snicker for once.

**I'm about to get very mean to people for the rest of this story... just saying... starting on Monday... **

**If I'm able to pull it off, I want to start doing three updates a week just because this one is so close to finishing gaaaaah... curse you inspiration which makes it near impossible to finish this story quicker than I'd like!**

**So, thanks for reading, I'll see you guys later!**

**~Mar**


	93. Queen of the Gargoyles

Hiroshi was back in Ignacia, watching Kai, Nya, and now Lloyd as well. The little blonde baby cried and cried when he realized his parents were just dropping him off. Garmadon had a harder time letting go more than Misako did but they had to leave for Hikari right away.

The only people who were going was Garmadon, Misako, Wu, Namiko, and Kasai, since Rose was taking on watching the Skulkin with Crevan and Anthony was not able to come down from his new home to the west like Tanaka.

Diella was waiting there for them on the road to the monastery, "Morning everyone!" she waved. "Was wondering when you were going come! Come on then, let's hit the road…" she rolled her sleeves up, "Or well… we don't have to walk all the way there…" her hands glowed a bit with a smirk. "I know you can do it Garmadon," she eyed her nephew.

"I… what?"

"You read the scrolls, come on, take my hand first and I'll give you the location we're going, chop chop," Diella snapped her fingers. Misako elbowed him next to get him moving.

"How did you know exactly?" he stood next to his mother's sister.

"Oh… I just have my ways…" her bright eyes flashed with a smirk. "You're Lilah's oldest and closest… of course you would know everything she did!"

Wu looked away a little bit when she said that about their mother and his brother, he sometimes felt bad they weren't as close as Garmadon and she were. It was kind of funny really, Wu was his father's favorite, he looked just like him and everyone always reminded him of that. He followed everything from his father, except of course the height thing. Their father pushed them all the time and he wished he received the kind treatment Garmadon could at least get for a short time from their mother.

To top it off, it seems that Garmadon always inherited everything from Delilah's side of the family, the shadow powers, the looks, the way with dragons and everything in between it seemed. People sometimes couldn't even tell that they were brothers because they just looked and acted so drastically different.

"Alright, you ready?" he was brought out of his thoughts by Diella who gained everyone's attention.

* * *

><p>Teleportation spells were always funny. It would feel like you were falling through the air and if you weren't used to it, you'd land flat on your back… this is what happened to Wu, Kasai, and Namiko. The next thing they knew, they were flopped over in a heap in the snow while the other three were perfect on their feet.<p>

"Here we go kids…" Diella placed her hand on a plate, and mumbled something indefinable. A hidden door slid open, revealing a passage way. "Alright, just follow me and don't get lost… and Misako, you're going to be sensing a lot of the same feelings you got when your brother was around… I promise it's nothing harmful, these people are rather pleasant when you get to know them…" she warned.

"Great…" she tightly smiled, holding her husband's hand as they walked on.

Walking in a bit more, Diella stopped, "Vermilla… I brought my guests…" she loudly stated.

The sound of powerful wings came from above and a cavern lit up in bright pinks and violets. A feminine figure landed, "Well… a pleasure…" she looked like a gargoyle alright, gravelly skin that was thick as stone, black eyes, and huge, monstrous wings. She obviously was a much older one. "You…" she pointed to Misako, "The boy who attempted to steal our weapons… you are his sister…" Misako opened her mouth but was cut off, "You look exactly like him…"

"So… you're here to get back which that was stolen from us…" she slowly walked around, eyeing the ninja. "You would fight for us in our feud with the Skulkin?"

"Uh… feud?" Kasai blinked.

"Feuds between our people and Skulkin have been since the beginning of time… I was a friend to Masuta… and when he split the secret elixirs between my people and Samukai's… well… they wanted to possess the one that could kill you… not the one that could give life…" her black eyes narrow. "I take it you are noble like he is if you are his students… we wish to take it back before the balance would be thrown…"

"Of course that's our goal… they're taking young and innocent people, we can't just let that happen," Misako cleared her throat. "Apparently whatever Samukai is doing with this… we think he's altering to make animated skeleton corpses to become Skulkin… and… he's killing people to try it…"

Vermilla looked over her shoulder, eyes wide now, "He's WHAT?!" she seemed enraged now. "How dare he do that…!" she growled more. "Get it back! You are the children of Masuta, I want it back and I want Samukai to be put in his place, the filthy vermin!"

They were all taken aback by her. She seemed so elegant and peaceful but she must have a very short fuse by the look of things. "We will… uh… we promise," Namiko held her hands out, trying to calm her down quickly.

"GOOD!" she loudly nodded once and waved her hand wide, "You have your mission then… fulfill it," she turned, spread her wings and disappeared into the cavern again.

"By dear!" Diella cheerily waved, "Come by for tea next Saturday at ten!" she seemed unfazed by the rage filled demands that came from her friend. "Well, that was nice, let's go back and start working on this! Shall we?" she started leading the way.

Everyone exchanged looks.

* * *

><p>Back in Ignacia, the ninja, plus Hiroshi and Diella, were in the living room, going over their game plan for the next day. They needed a way to get down there without as much trouble as possible and not only break out whoever was down there, but they also had to find Samukai and the elixir he had stolen.<p>

"So… he's going to have troops all around the temple here… he must know we're picking up on the activity by now…" Wu scratched his chin; his head was hurting just thinking about going down there, battling their way through a million skeletons that already couldn't die by the sword.

Garmadon and Misako had the guest room with little Lloyd, Wu took the couch and Crevan and Rose were on standby in their own homes, prepared to set out and meet them the following morning. Everything was set and planned, but as they all knew, everything always turned out bad no matter the final outcome, something always went wrong during the actual plan.

When Misako saw her son finally fell asleep she turned to her husband who had his eyes closed, "I know you're not really asleep… you can't fool me anymore like this you know…" she plainly told him.

After another minute of watching him he sighed, opening his tired eyes and turning his head on the pillow to look at her worried face. "I try… and I try… and I tried my whole life and… I'm sick of living like this Misako… whether I'm asleep or awake… it's hell… no matter how many times I kiss you or how many hugs I get from Lloyd… I don't know what's going to happen to me…"

She could see his eyes welling up. He only really cried like this when he was at his lowest points. "I'm sorry… I… I… sound like some ungrateful brat to you probably…" he looked away. "That's what my father would tell me anyways right? That I don't deserve so much love and support and here I am still crying like the brat _he_ saw me as…" he covered his eyes.

"I… Garmadon…" she really didn't know what to say to that. "Honey…" she bit her lip, feeling bad for him. It seems she didn't realize how much his relationship with father hurt him emotionally, even after almost two whole years of living a life without him around. It left internal scars.

"Wu was his favorite… Wu was everybody's… I'm the emotional wreck… the impulsive one… people remember me because of my short fuse and how much I like to fight… Wu… he's the nice one… the quiet, good one… the smarter brother who everyone goes to… people don't even look me in the eye when they want to talk to me… it's like I don't have feelings…"

She grabbed his hand, "You're my favorite…" she told him point blank. "My best friend since before I can even bother to remember… from almost birth, we slept together… played together… trained together… you wouldn't believe it but I chose to be there… you are loved more than you will ever know… and that's okay… because I never get tired of saying it… _ever_".

Misako smiled at his stunned silence. "I am not afraid of you…" looking back on the far right side of the bed, she smiled more to see Lloyd was still fast asleep and turned back, moving her mouth against his.

"I'm sorry for troubling you… you always get the backlash… it's not fair…" he quietly told her.

"Our lives were never fair… you are right about that…"

* * *

><p>On the other side of the door, though this conversation should have been left very private, was Wu, slowly moving his ear away from the door, standing upright again and wiping his eyes. He looked down at the floor, feeling just a bit hurt inside after hearing his brother's stressed tone, the words of anxiety he admitted to no one else but her it seemed.<p>

He felt bad. He knew he had received better treatment from Masuta than his older brother did. Come to think of it, he didn't always stick up for his brother like he should have, especially when they were younger, even before the venom, Garmadon made sure Wu wouldn't get in trouble, he even retrieved the sword that put him in this mess in the first place. He avoided the older sibling especially when he made friends with Kasai and Namiko too, using it as an excuse to do something else away from him.

Wu quickly made his way into the living room, sitting on the couch again, pushing his blanket aside, no longer able to sleep despite the mission ahead. He couldn't stop thinking about his brother and more or less... Misako. It was still beyond his comprehension that after over thirty five years, she proved to be incredibly loyal and patient. Her devotion was almost inhuman.

"What makes them so…" he flopped back on the couch, kicking the blanket he was using aside on the floor now, "… it could have been us... I just know it… but why…?" he turned on his side. He sadly smiled, "Guess I know how it feels to be left out of the picture or treated differently now by someone… don't I?" he closed his eyes, answering his own questions. "I was treated special by my father… and now Garmadon is being treated special by the girl I always loved… ironic I guess…"

He shook his head, burying his face into the pillow and finally was able to fall asleep.

**Kay so, was being a butt yesterday... so here it is today instead... have more angsty ass Garmadon and Wu... you're getting more of it on Friday if I can help it. You're gonna be in for a ride for the rest of this story... look for no safety... this story's coming to a close and it is gonna be hell owo**

**Hopefully I can finish writing this entire thing by the end of August so all I have to do is post the rest of it and not have to worry so much about actually writing. Thanks for reading :3**

**~Mar**


	94. Kidnapped

_Click clack click clack_

No one heard the quiet click of boney feet on stone and wood or the claws picking locks and turning knobs, all dead tired and sound asleep in their beds inside, readying to head into the Underworld.

"Remind again why we're breaking into a blacksmith's house? Surely he's gonna know how to use these things being he keeps a million swords on the walls… not to mention I heard a rumor this guy is one of the students to Masuta… remember when those six came to the Underworld with him!?"

"Masuta's dead and his students must be getting old and tired… who cares anyways…?! Samukai said it's almost done so he just needed one person…"

"So… what's the process exactly?"

"Ugh… Nuckal… I told you what Whiplash told me… our potion and the Gargoyle's potion can be mixed to create something completely new… our kind has remained as it for centuries… we were cut down so much after that last war we all lost with the Serpentine and Samukai has found a way to melt humans' flesh down to their bones and reanimate the corpses to be just like us… and once our army is bigger and badder… the plan is that we'll take over Ninjago for sure!"

"Ooooh…"

"And what better thing to do is to kidnap one or two of the only people who can stop us? Imagine of we had a warrior like that with us!?"

"Hehe… I like this idea… this is gonna be fun, isn't it Kruncha?"

"Come on you idiot!"

The smarter of the two yanked on the arm of his dumber counterpart, peering into several of the rooms. "Hey hey hey… look at this… it's Masuta's oldest kid… ya know what I'm thinking here?"

"Uuuh… no… what are you thinking?"

Kruncha sighed, scraping his claws against his skull, "That's his wife in the bed next to him… remember Samukai always said about him?" Nuckal was about to open his mouth, "Of course you don't… but what if we helped to speed things up? Make him suffer… he has serious mental issues… she's like his crutch…"

"I'm not following you…" the skeleton with the eye patch shook his head.

"JUST GRAB HER AND LET'S GO BACK!" he hissed quietly to the stupid one, knocking Nuckal in his skull angrily.

* * *

><p>At long last Misako got her husband to sleep soundly. She turned on her side, curling up under the blankets, drifting off as well after making sure Lloyd was also asleep, next to his father. The creaking of the door set her senses on alert but she still didn't see it as a threat. Only when the boney claws of familiar monsters grab her wrists did she snap awake.<p>

"KRUNCHAAAA!" Nuckal whined. "She's up now!"

"Cuff her wrists and let's just get out of here then you idiot!"

This also may have caused a light sleeping Garmadon to wake up, confused for a moment but realized what was going on soon enough. "YOU!" he recognized the beady red eyes in the deep skull sockets as Skulkin. Despite his wanting to pulverize them, he was still not able to take them on, still waking up from sleep.

Lloyd popped awake as well, just in time for the doors to all slam open, the other ninja and older blacksmith in the house being alerted to the sense of danger there.

When the other three rushed in, Garmadon was sitting on the edge of the bed, eyes glowing brightly, even more than when he was simply just worked up or angry. These were brighter and far more intense than that. He was about ready to rip apart the next person who spoke to them... or worse.

"We're going to the Underworld right now," he hissed at them all. "And I am going to rip apart of Samukai and burn his bones to ashes for kidnapping my wife".

He stood up, looking very intimidating to the others in the house, just seeing his black silhouette and the red glow of his irises that dimly lit his face. They all nodded a bit, slowly backing out of the room to get dressed and do as he said. Wu felt a pit in his stomach the entire time, wondering if Lloyd was going to be okay in the room by himself with his father. _"This is what Garmadon always said worried him the most… didn't it?"_

Lloyd scooted back a bit when he saw his father's eyes glow in the dark room. The red orbs shifted to him and he straightened up. He didn't flinch so much or whimper but he pulled the blanket up to his nose with his small hands, Garmadon could see in the dark unlike most humans, and he knew his son was afraid.

It was dead silent in the room for a few minutes of Garmadon looking at his son. He then looked in the mirror and saw what the little boy had to be looking at and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry Lloyd…" he muttered quietly. "It seems when it comes down to it… I can even scare you too…"

Lloyd eased up bit more after hearing it was his father and not some monster instead. His father bit his lip, hesitating at first before scooping him up, hugging him tightly. _"Go away bad thoughts… go away… let me have this moment with my boy… don't take this away from me… I don't want to scare him…"_

The green eyed baby looked confused when he felt his dad shaking, trying to not cry. He was so young; he couldn't possibly understand the turmoil he was going through but he knew enough to feel something was very wrong with him.

A small knock came and Namiko opened the door, "We're all ready and waiting outside for you…" she swallowed hard but relaxed a bit when she couldn't see his bright eyes anymore. "I'll… we'll be out front… whenever you're ready…"

"Thank you…" he sounded hoarse, turning away from her, holding Lloyd even tighter. She closed the door again, biting her lip. "Lloyd…" he swallowed, "Lloyd I need to leave right now…" he felt the little boy squirm, "But… but I'll be back tomorrow… I… I promise… I will never leave you…" he sniffed, setting his son back on the bed. "Everything is just fine… I promise… I'm… I'm sorry if I scared you before…" he wiped his leaking eyes. "Please… just sleep…"

Lloyd nodded his small head and his father kissed his forehead before getting up, leaving him in the dark room. _"Misako will be fine… right?"_

* * *

><p>"LET GO OF ME YOU BASTARDS!" Misako screamed as several of the Skulkin attempted to keep her from making a break for it. She then spied Samukai up ahead. "SAMUKAI YOU SON OF A BITCH!" he turned in her direction, smirking at the sight of her captured. "I'd skin you alive if you were already a bag of bones!" she hissed.<p>

He traced a boney claw down her jaw line, ending at the tip of her chin, "You may be the almighty ninja of earth… but you have no power when you're all tied up and alone with no weapon… nobody to lead… what good are you really without your army?" their red and green eyes glared at each other furiously. "Come on… I want that stupid boy to be hit where it hurts once and for all…"

"SAMUKAI!" Misako screamed at him more as she was dragged in. Every time she stomped her foot, the ground would shake, just enough to be noticeable.

The four armed monster looked back at her with a frown, "Make sure she doesn't do that too much… who knows what will happen if she triggers some earthquake down here… Ii don't need this fortress getting torn down by her temper tantrum!" he looked up cautiously. Kruncha and Nuckal both nodded quickly.

* * *

><p>"Looks like things have died down here…" Kasai chewed his lip. "Guess they got what they needed and just posted the usual sentries to keep an out for us, we need to be careful or they'll alert the others to our presence…" he meant that last bit for Garmadon who twitched every once and while like he was going to pounce and tear the skeletons apart on his own.<p>

"Right…" the dark brunette mumbled, knowing what that caution was for. "When I see Samukai though… if anyone gets in my way you're going down with him…" his eyes flickered to the bright red they were before. "If he dares to touch my wife he will pulverized".

No one decided to say anything against that, he needed to let all the rage out and Samukai was kind of a serious threat to Ninjago now, so, destroying him would probably help their job quite a bit in the terms of keeping Ninjago safe, it was just one less thing to worry about.

But still, they were concerned for the mental state of their friend; they knew he suffered from voices plaguing his head and normally was introvert, but they were worried he would lose all recognition of friend of foe during this fight. The others, younger three ninja sighed, they would just have to deal with his health later.

They let Garmadon be the one to cap the sentries for starters, Wu, Namiko, and Kasai providing the distraction for him to come around in the Skeletons' blind spots, knocking them literally to pieces. He sheathed his sword quietly, looking at the others and nodding his head for them to come and follow into the passage way before them.

"How many do you think are down there…?" Wu quietly asked, staring at the black hole that would leading to the world of the dead.

"Thousands… or more…" Kasai gripped the handle of his katana, as if ready for something to jump out at them. "… Shame Tanaka wasn't here… the whole team back on another mission together… would have been nice I think…"

"You're talking like this is our final mission or something, Kas…" Namiko felt a tightness in her chest, hearing the boys talk like this. "We all have kids… families… we… are you saying this is a suicide mission or something?" she turned to the other three men who had darkened faces. "Oh gods…" she looked back.

"Rumors had it that… there's a passage way that you can walk down… and you get tortured by your own worst fears if you get lost and somehow walk through it, deviating from your correct path…" Wu shuddered a bit, feeling cold, moldy air blowing at them from the Underworld.

"Now or never…" Garmadon sighed and was the first one to step forward into the shadows like the thought of that didn't faze him in the slightest.

Wu watched him go first, looking at his feet, _"Of course he has no sense of self preservation… his number one goal in life is to maintain the health and happiness of Misako… and now Lloyd too… I sense this is going to be very bad for him should something actually happen to her…"_

Garmadon glanced back at his little brother, as if knowing he was thinking of everything that could possibly go wrong that would end in him snapping. He wasn't glaring, it was a rather blank stare. The taller one then shook his head, walking back in.

After another moment, the other three nodded, stepping in as well after their angered friend.

**Man... ws not in the mood to post stuff last Friday hehe... yea... that was why no updates but like I said... tired... uuuh... so yea... I'm mean to Garmadon... am I sorry? ... a little... **

**well, it's 12:35, I almost forgot today was Monday as you can see and I thank you for reading! :D**

**~Mar**


	95. Darkness

Wu held a small ball of light in his hands but it wasn't enough to see the walls of the tunnel they were all traveling through. Even when both Garmadon and Kasai were cupping small flames to help, it still wasn't enough and barely did a thing, it was just a thick haze all around them.

At the sound of Skulkin garble they froze in their tracks.

Garmadon dropped the flame to pull his sword out in one swift motion. "Where are those bastards…" he stepped forward, ahead of the others who were quite okay with remaining behind him this round. They didn't want him to go crazy, but they would rather him willingly want to incinerate their enemies.

After another noise that seemed to come from behind, the adults jumped again, not even looking back, just running forward when Kasai tripped; banging into Wu who dropped the lights the were carrying, plunging them into full and complete darkness, a mad scramble going on now between the four as they tried to feel around for each other.

"WU! LET GO OF MY LEG!" Garmadon growled angrily, kicking his leg as hard as he could with no success.

"But they're right behind us!"

"SO LET GO! YOU'RE LIKE THIRTY NINE! STOP BEING A BABY! I THOUGHT YOU WERE A NINJA!"

"Kasai?!" Namiko shouted but she received no answer and hugged who she assumed was Garmadon judging by how tall he seemed to feel and at the fact he pushed her away a bit. Wu squealing disappeared suddenly and the feeling of someone clamped to the older brother's leg disappeared, and by the time Garmadon managed to make another light source, it was just him and Namiko, alone and quietly shaking.

"… Skulkin can see in the dark… the pitch black dark… can't they?" Garmadon swallowed, looking at the shorter, younger woman. She nodded a bit. "Come on, those two jokers can get out no problem if they had to, I can't bother to worry about their stupidity…" he grabbed her arm when she wasn't moving, "After we stop Samukai we'll find them when it's safer…"

She was tripping over her feet as she was being pulled before she found her footing again to keep up with his longer strides. "Go in… steal the elixir… then we free Misako and anybody else who still may be alive down here… and find the other boys, okay?" she looked up when her friend wasn't answering, "GARMADON!" she shouted at him.

"Okay okay! I get it… you get the elixir and I get Misako-"

"_NO!"_

He loudly sighed with annoyance at her persistence she always seemed to have. They both stopped walking, her folding her arms angrily at him, "Okay okay, elixir first then my wife…" he grumbled, looking away from her hard eyes. "And hope she's not dead yet because of you stopping me like this!" he shot back at the brown eyed ninja. "Because if she is… I'm done with all of you forever," he hissed.

Namiko looked down, feeling a bit guilty but they would work better if they stuck together. His words stung, they were friends since they were children and she and Garmadon got along fairly well, enough to let her tease him at times he was not like this. To have him cut himself off from everyone? She knew he was already starting down that scary path as it was, if this plan did get Misako killed, he would be lost forever.

"You know… I just realized… this is the first real time we're doing a job with just us… huh?" she decided to break tension when they started walking again.

"I guess so…" it sounded plain and monotone, he didn't want to talk; he wanted to use this toxic aggression to kill something obviously.

"Earlier… back at the house… you and Misako aren't being very honest with the rest of us… are you?" he was still quiet. "You aren't better… you're just getting worse… you scared Lloyd this time though and that's why you're really on edge… right?" there was a thick silence in the stale air between them, "Well…? Am I right!?" she said louder, wanting him to answer.

"I'm not talking about this now Nami!" he growled at her, irritated by her questions and prying. "I don't want to talk at all; this or anything else! I don't want your help because you may be a nurse, a healer, but you have no idea how you could possibly help me! I want to get through this! Is that too much to ask from you!? To do what I have to do and get out of here… with my wife alive?! She's your friend too you know!" he let go of her arm and continued on, hearing her try to keep up with his quick pace again.

The small brunette shook her head at the older one, "Fine… no more talking… if that's what you want, keep it bottled up until the same thing happens like when we were back in the jungle and you stab…" she started walking again but he glared back at her, she shut up, realizing she was just being mean now, "Let's just hope Kas and Wu are okay…" she coughed, lowering her head.

"Mm…" he turned back ahead, seeming to somewhat forgive her for her inappropriate timing with accidental guilt trips.

* * *

><p>The two best friends panted, looking at their fine handiwork; a small pile of chopped up skeletons who were less than pleased about this; shouting things at them angrily. "Guess we fell behind a lot now after those things pulled us back a ways… better try and find my brother and your wife… make sure they're doing good," Wu sheathed the sword, starting to walk on. "This place is so confusing… more than I remember it being…" he looked around.<p>

"Bet Samukai changed it up in the case people like us would come down here and assault him…" Kasai yawned a bit, wiping his eyes. He was wishing this wasn't done so late, why couldn't Skulkin just wait to do their plans in the daylight when he was awake? "I wouldn't be surprise, he's a general and likes his warfare after all… he's not as dumb as we think sometimes…"

"I hope you're wrong about that and he really isn't smart enough to fight us," Wu sighed, starting to run ahead into the corridor. "Come on now! We gotta find our way through this stupid place! I'm sure Samukai's throne room is somewhere ahead this way!" he sounded optimistic about it, of course he wanted it to be right, that meant they could put an end to this and calm his brother down before he would slaughter all of them.

"Do you think Namiko will be able to help Garmadon not lose it when it really counts?" Kasai quietly asked. "I don't want her to end up like Ella did you know… both're too kind and easily can let their guard down… even around Garmadon… " Kasai stared at his feet, folding his arms across his waist, feeling uncomfortable at such thoughts.

Wu nodded, "I know what you mean… they just want to help and put a smile on his face if they can… I don't think we realize how much of a threat my brother is to not just us but himself as well… Namiko better remember that she needs to defend herself should something happen…"

* * *

><p>Misako watched the bubbling liquid, tied up in a cell so she could barely move. She tried ramming the poorly made looking bars in an attempt to break free, but now her shoulders hurt from doing that but she bit her tongue from groaning in pain. Every once in a while several of the Skulkin would look back at her, mumbling to themselves about something she couldn't hear. All she could do was glare at all of them, attempting to intimidate them.<p>

Samukai finally walked in, leaning down to see eye to eye with the green eyed ninja, "Oh, you poor little thing… all tied up and no way to escape… Pfft, ninja…" he then scoffed, "your kind is dying out… there will be no need for you soon enough… you obsolete , self righteous fools… just like how your master was… you're all unfit to be called the great heroes of Ninjago! How can you save a country if you can't save yourself from a pair of cuffs and a cage?!"

Her cheeks burned and she felt her anger boiling over again, enough to make her ram the bars one more time. One buckled loose a bit this time which made Samukai genuinely jump back, startled by her brute actions. She was fueled by her rage of being tied up and underestimated by her enemies countless times. Like with Ronin, she wanted to break out and kick his boney ass for thinking she couldn't do something they could.

Misako blew her hair from her face before looking him in the eye, "How cute… you think I'm a weakling like you, hiding behind a bunch of stupid minions," she angrily smiled, cheek pressed against the loosened bars.

He looked back, trying to hide how scared he was of her breaking out and turned his back to look at the others, "Are you idiots almost done over there?! I want her dead and loyal to me! CHOP CHOP!"

"No matter what you do to me I will never serve you! I'll fight you even in death…" she decided to spit in his direction. "It's your job to make sure the death are seen to and the creatures of the dark are kept away from the living world! How the hell did you even get to be in charge!? You suck at your job!"

"I can do whatever the hell I want, I don't owe anybody anything! Especially Masuta or his stupid students!" Samukai folded both sets of arms. "Who's gonna stop me though once you're gone? If you're the leader, then your friends will crumble apart and we'll pick them all off one by one!"

"HA!" she laughed, "Do you know what happened to the last guy that dared to _wink_ at me?" she sat back, seeming even more confident, "Garmadon almost broke his arm… and he'll have fun doing it to all four of yours for trying to kill me," she glanced back, seeming less enraged, hoping that would intimidate him at least a little bit.

* * *

><p>Garmadon and Namiko stopped when they felt a harsh gust of wind blow at them, freezing them to their bones but the feeling passed as quickly as it had come. It sounded like there was a strange whisper amongst the breeze, which made the younger girl remain totally silent for a moment. "It's a warning obviously…" Namiko quietly told him. "I think if we keep going this way… we may not like what we see or hear… there should be another way around if we back track…" she looked down.<p>

"It'll take longer if we turned back now…" he murmured, "Besides… I've seen everything, trust me… I know what I am… what I have done and what I'll probably do with my life…" he closed his eyes, "Go back if you're scared… but I'm going to find Misako… by myself… without you or Wu or Kas… or anyone else for that matter…"

He started moving again when Namiko stopped him, "Looks like I can't stop you from splitting up and going in on your own after all… so… just find her and… bring her back for Lloyd too… I'll handle the rest of what needs to be done…" she swallowed, "Good luck… and… just remember who the real enemy is… okay?"

"Yea… of course I will…" he responded and left her behind, looking back one last time before he couldn't see her at all anymore. He held another, brighter flame in his hand and went on once more, headstrong into whatever was waiting for him.

***flopping along to not fall behind in updates and failing miserably* haha... oh... man... I almost forgot today was Monday... I actually just came back from dinner like an hour ago. I met up with one of my best internet friends! She's Leafstem on DA, we had fun... I miss her already ;-;**

**Sorry, that had nothing to do with the story, anyways... yea, i'm lazy... i'm sorry i am because i need to finish this stuff, it's been lingering far too long... all of these stories tbh heh... ;-; **

**I'll see you guys later though! I'm going to attempt at writing ahead again hahaha. Thanks for reading! :)**

**~Mar**


	96. Future Vision

Misako struggled when she was pulled out of the cage again against her will and strapped to a chair so they could get to her easily compared to the cage. She clenched her teeth, it had been hours; no one had come still? Her friends were strong… they could easily break in and help free her.

Her small muscles strained against the ropes and she hissed when the irritation started from the scratchy twine, knowing they would start bleeding quite soon and it was designed to be that way. She tried even harder once Samukai let out a gravelly, annoying laugh, but it still did no good. He grabbed her face with his boney claws, "I hope you're ready to be one of us, missy".

She squeezed her green eyes shut at his hideous face so close to hers. She wanted to scream, for the first time in her life, she wanted to scream because she was captured, and very much scared, completely at the mercy of one of her enemies.

* * *

><p>The entire time he walked through the next set of corridors, voices kept whispering things to him. He didn't know if it was just in his head or something was actually there talking to him, but he just kept walking on. <em>"I'm not letting Samukai ruin my family again… not this time…" <em>he just kept walking, making that his drive to hurry through.

He finally stopped when it felt harder to move, like something was pulled him back. He looked over his shoulder and was pretty sure nothing was there.

_Itty bitty ninja… you have no idea what's to come… you think life will be just fine as long as you have your son…_

He promised Namiko he knew what was coming and expected it, but for some reason, he was seriously doubting that right now. It felt like someone was hanging over his shoulder with every step he took, whispering things right in his ear, but he checked every time he felt it, nothing was there.

_Ten little ninja, a strong bond over time_

_One was murdered by her own friend_

_And then there were nine…_

He remembered a song similar to this, he heard it when he was nineteen years old and was just starting on the journey of being a ninja warrior with his at the time girlfriend and friends, at the time there were just six. At first he didn't know why they voice was saying ten this time, but then he remembered; Ella.

_"__That… that was an accident… I… I didn't know what I was doing!" _he was trying not to undo everything he was working so hard to get over.

He tried moving forward again, but he didn't make it all that far because it spoke again.

_Nine little ninja, ready to accept fate_

_She wasn't careful enough one day_

_And then there were eight_

Obviously something that didn't happen yet, he wracked his brain, trying to think of who the ninth to fall could be, he knew it was a girl as well, but he just walked forward more, wondering whether it could be Namiko, Rose, or Misako. That was the scariest; his wife was down here somewhere, ready to be killed. She was always careful though, it couldn't be her… he hoped.

_Eight little ninja, no one would dare question_

_One lost his way and never returned_

_And then there were seven_

This one only took a moment to think about. Garmadon remembered back to their time in Hiroshi's Labyrinth, Anthony had gotten them lost, extended their time in there long enough to for Misako to contract a deadly virus while she was pregnant. He knew they weren't dead, but he was feeling like they were being killed right in front of him already.

_Seven little ninja, still about their wits_

_One day he went on a job and vanished_

_And then there were six_

That one didn't give as much information but still, he kept on walking, hoping that didn't mean death. It seemed after every stanza was completed, he was allowed to keep going. He sighed when he was pulled to a stopped again, this was torturous.

_Six little ninja, somehow still alive_

_One grew frail and ill_

_And then there were five_

Every time the gender wasn't given, he was scared that it would be him or his wife, they had a little son, they had lives they wanted to always live but never could because of his father roping them into this, time was passing and they had no say, their lives were turning into train wrecks.

He wanted out of this blasted place already!

_Five little ninja, settling a score_

_One fell in battle_

_And then there were four_

He shook his head, wiping his face in the damp, dark room. It was trying to break him obviously. He was scared of hurting the others should he snap again. It wanted him to go in alone, with no moral support whatsoever for him. He wished at least Namiko followed behind him, she may have been stubborn and helped keep him in check, but sometimes, she was really calming to have around.

_"__Ignore it… ignore it… it's nothing… it's a trick… it wants me to turn back…" _he wiped his eyes.

_Four little ninja, a team just not meant to be_

_One vanished as well to the north _

_And then there were three_

_"__North… Cold… it… maybe Tanaka… but…" _he then growled to himself, he shouldn't be wasting his time thinking of these things. What did it know!? Nothing! It didn't know any of them personally, how could it tell the future?! There were no such thing as seeing the future! It seemed not all of them would die, but they wouldn't be around in his life either.

_Three little ninja, all so brave and true_

_One felt useless_

_And then there were two_

He just powered through, feeling he was almost out, yet the place seemed endless. All he could think of after that verse was his brother. It made him sick to think he could feel that way towards him. He didn't like Wu, not all the time anyways, but he didn't want to make things worse between them. It was like him and his father all over again it seemed.

_Two little ninja, together and in love_

_But she ran away from him_

_And then there was one_

He stopped, hands igniting in fire as he looked around, angry now with this voice that decided to poke at him. He couldn't deny it, it was talking about Misako, "Where the hell are you!?" he snapped. His red eyes were watering over as he shook his head, _"She would never leave me… she promised… she promised she wasn't scared of me… she would help me… why the…" _

The voice just laughed in response at his suffering thoughts that he gave into.

_One little ninja, sad and all alone_

_Everybody left him in the shadows_

_And then there were none_

There was now dead silence and the brunette heard a door creak open. He perked up a bit at the new noise, alert and ready to kill something but shaking all the same. He found his way to a door but before leaving through it, he was stopped one last time, feeling like a set of hands grabbed his shoulders from behind.

_What I say is not a lie; these things will come to pass in the most peculiar ways and time _

_Take heed Garmadon, son of Masuta the Creator of the land and Delilah the Dragon Master who was his right hand _

_You will be the last to fall and it began with the tenth ninja's end._

_Nine hours on the great bronze clock left _

_Each death will tick down to the day that you will be judged_

_The day of your death_

He swallowed, trying to look back for some odd reason, he couldn't. He wanted to see the face of this thing as it paused.

_Lord Garmadon, good luck to your mission… you will fall, this is my future vision._

Whatever it was that was watching him must have been having a good laugh at this silly little mind game he was playing. He found that he couldn't move; this time it was his own body that locked up and not some useable force behind him. _"Lies lies lies…" _he told himself. _"I'm not leaving my son… he loves me… Misako loves me… I'm not going to die… I'm sick of having my story told for me!"_

"GARMADOOOON!"

He snapped at attention to the scream of his name, knowing he had to move on right now. "Mimi…" he muttered to himself and ran straight ahead, forgetting what just happened, all he knew was that she was alive, but not for long if he didn't move.

* * *

><p>Namiko slinked her way through the halls, looking in storage rooms and every other lit room that could hold what they needed to retrieve for Diella's friend. She was nervous, feeling herself sweating underneath her ruby and cerulean colored robes. She shuddered a bit from the chill in the air.<p>

_"__It has to be in this room…" _she thought to herself, spying a locked room. "How do I get inside though!" she growled quietly, walking over to the huge lock. "I'm a healer… I can't just make a key…" she jiggled it, frustrated by her situation. It would take forever to find the guard with the right key or to attempt at picking the lock and time was not on their side

During her frustration, she failed to realize her sweat droplets were floating in the air around her. "Huh?" she blinked, touching one before they all fell around her when she did a double take. "Of course…" she wiped her sweat brow again, "Tanaka said… healing was never an element in itself… it was an extension of… of water…"

She stood back up, closing her eyes; holding her arms out to her sides, feeling the cold, damp air around her, _"Water's around me right now in the very room… condensation on the walls… my sweat… the air itself…" _she opened her brown eyes, slinging her arms in front of her, making an 'x' shape that slashed through the heavy metal door.

Surprisingly enough, it slashed through for the most part, must not have been very thick. She panted a bit, trying it again, starting to smile, seeing she was doing it, she was controlling water, that's what her element was, she had one, she just didn't have some strange healing gift, she was a descendant of the water masters, she was just like her friends, she was unique.

Once the hole was big enough, Namiko was able to slip through at last, checking the extensive amount of shelves, "The original flask has to be here somewhere…" she mumbled more, wondering what the others were up to right now or if Garmadon even made it out of that corridor. She felt a bit guilty that she didn't go through with him; she should have knowing he was probably having a terrible time. She couldn't go back now of course so she just kept on searching.

* * *

><p>When Garmadon opened the door, Misako was in the chair tied up, mouth gagged now. She looked normal still, maybe just a little bit tired and angry but when she saw him she looked upset, but not angry. "SHRAP!" she shouted at him.<p>

"What-" the hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he whipped around, clashing his katana with one of the skeletons who was following Samukai's direct orders to kill his wife. "Well… looks like you messed with the wrong ninja you bastards". He smirked, swinging his hand across to shoot a wave of flames.

* * *

><p>"I gotta bone to pick with you!" Kasai swung his sword, decapitating another foe.<p>

Wu rolled his eyes, "Really? I think I can do better than that," he turned around, using the sheath of the blade to smack another to the ground, "How about a knuckle sandwich!?"

"Wu… that's horrible," Kasai shook his head more. "Just let me stick to the puns thank you," he kicked back, rattling the ribcage of another, "That one's gonna cost him an arm and leg!" he smirked, thinking he was so clever for coming up with that one.

"KAS!"

The fight was interrupted by the shout of Namiko who skidded in; whipping water she pulled from the condensation in the air; knocking more skulls from their bodies, the remaining bones still together were running around until they hit the walls and collapsed in a heap. "I have it, we just need to find Garmadon! I KNOW he's gotten to Mimi already!"

The two boys were stilled stunned that she just whipped around water like she was doing it for years. Namiko noticed and looked at her hands, "Base element's water… Tanaka told me I could possess it from my dad…" she sadly smiled, "Let's go! Now! And… save the puns for some other time PLEASE…"

"How did you know that's what we were doing!?" the blonde asked.

"I think I know you guys well enough… you are my best friends after all…" she knotted her brown hair in the back, keeping it out of her eyes as she ran, leading the way for the others behind her. "Now come on! We need to get rid of whatever weird junk Samukai made with this stuff…"

**Don't ask who was talking to Garmadon, not even I know... maybe... tbh, I had that poem written like, 60 chapter ago. I knew I wanted to bring it back, and I knew I had to do when he was very close to going insane. **

**Also, yes, FINALLY, I reveal that after over thirty years, Namiko was indeed, a water ninja. Funny how I posted Namiko's costume design long before season five came around and Nya was given blue and red robes too, kind of similar to Namiko's lol...**

**So... I wonder which order everyone will fall... Ella was the first... and yes, the bronze clock is representing kind of the celestial one from season two being when the helmet was removed, the countdown started for the slug out between possessed G and Lloyd. Also, I described this metaphorical clock as bronze because in the Bible especially, bronze means judgement... soooo yea... just... thought I'd let you know why I threw that in...**

**Thanks so much for reading, I'm almost there, I'm so close to finishing this sucker and I'm really proud of myself for sticking a super long story like this when I think there would be a time where I would have given up on it... so thanks for sticking around this long and I'll see you guys here Monday with a new update :) **

**~Mar**


	97. Haste Makes Waste

Garmadon nodded a bit, pleased with the sight of scorched Skulkin bones and turned back to Misako, quickly using his katana to slice through the ropes and ripped the gag off of her face, hugging her, almost tight enough to squish her. "Samukai will be back soon you know…" she tiredly reminded him of this.

He held her chin and smiled a bit, "I'll take pleasure in what I'm going to do to that bastard… and then I'm gonna whip your ass for getting kidnapped again right from under my nose… how dare you make me and Lloyd scared…"

She shook her head, "Just admit it… you almost hurt him… didn't you?" He was silent, looking away from her, she was exhausted and her body ached, she didn't have time for his obvious facades, he came in there raring to go and beat people up, she could see through that completely, "I'm sorry… don't feel guilty… you just are an emotional person… I'm not mad…"

He quickly sheathed his sword and grabbed her face, kissing her. "I was terrified… It felt like my whole world blew up…" he started crying now, admitting everything. She just kept quiet, softly smiling to herself as he kissed her whole face, hugging one another body tightly again.

This is what concerned her, he could break at any given moment, over any little thing, and if it came to her or even Lloyd? He'd blow up; it would be the straw that broke the camel's back. She finally rested her head on his shoulder, patting his back twice, "Now isn't the time for this… we need to get out of here and then you cry and hug me all you want… together with Lloyd…"

He let go of her, nodding a little bit more before touching her cheek one more time, giving her a soft peck on the lips.

"THERE!"

The couple jerked around to see Samukai behind another group of his minions. Misako grabbed a fallen sword from one of the Skulkin her husband just beat apart. "Just focus your anger on them… nothing else…"

"I know…" he tightened his stance, gripping his sword so tight, his knuckles started turning white. His wife looked back over at him, growing more concerned when his eyes lit up like literal fire. Hopefully he wouldn't accidentally do something horrible… like what happened a different time not that long ago. "I hope you're ready Samukai… because we're about to pass judgment on you".

* * *

><p>Namiko looked back to the glass flask that carried the liquid that could kill anyone, even make you sick by touching it. In all honesty she was scared of it. She was a nurse, she helped people, even give them life, she brought Misako's son into the world and here she was holding something that Samukai attempted to take so many lives with. She felt disgusting when she even looked upon it.<p>

"Hey, you okay?" she looked back when Kasai spoke to her, snapping her out of her thoughts. "What is it?"

"This… disgusting potion…" she closed her eyes, "I feel like I need to destroy it… or something… I know the gargoyles keep to themselves and are wise and stuff and probably have been good guardians of this… but I would feel a lot better if I knew this was gone forever…"

"You know what our job is, no deviating, though I kind of agree with you… you can't let your own feelings get in the way of this one…" Wu warned her. Everyone knew she was stubborn and stuck to her ideals. Ever since she watched her father die, she was dead set on saving everyone she possibly could. It was almost like it was slowly becoming an obsession. "Namiko!"

"I KNOW!" she sighed loudly, look at the blonde. "I won't do anything stupid like trying to dispose of it… okay!?" she gripped the bottle tighter to make sure it wouldn't slip from her hands. "I promise…" That seemed to satisfy both boys and they refocused on finding the others. _"Maybe…"_ she thought to herself sneakily, looking at the black liquid.

"Hey I think this is the way out… I heard Samukai storming in… do you think they got out or are coming?" Wu frowned, thinking it over; he wanted to get out as soon as possible. "I think we need to get that flask out of here and let my brother worry about Misako…" he sighed.

"I… have to agree with that actually…" Kasai sighed. "Come on then, this way it is…"

* * *

><p>Misako fell to one knee, heavily breathing while her husband clashed swords with Samukai after dismantling the others with him. Her vision was growing blurry. She needed to sleep, maybe drink something, but she couldn't continue fighting and helping him. Maybe she shouldn't have wasted so much energy raging at Samukai and trying to scare him.<p>

Her husband glanced back, looking worriedly at her now. Garmadon looked back to the four armed general and exhaled, trying to remain calm which was a very hard feat to accomplish on a good day, "Ninja-go!" he shouted at the skeleton before attempting to whip around and kicked the other back with a dark purple Spinjitsu tornado. "Come on, we need to get out of here! I'm sure the others are looking for the way back too!" he started pulling her by the arm.

Misako just nodded a bit, trying to not be dragged the entire way but he wasn't even letting her find her footing he was in such a rush to get out.

* * *

><p>They were almost there; they were so close; they were going to make it out altogether, hopefully if Garmadon really did get her like what Wu convinced of the other two. Namiko was right behind Kasai and Wu. The master of water breathed in relief, looking over her shoulder to check if their pursuers were still there, chasing them when she felt her herself flying forward, almost like it was in slow motion. Kasai looked back first with wide, brown eyes.<p>

The flask also fell forward, spilling some onto the ground. The brunette squeezed her eyes shut as she hit the ground, face first, while Kasai and Wu quickly set the flask upright, checking to see if Namiko was okay after her fall. They saw her cheek landed in black puddle of the death potion. Kasai felt like screaming, he didn't know what that could to her! What if she died?! They had two little ones!

The brunette coughed and looked down, realizing what had happened. She looked up to her husband and friend, scared when she saw her hands were paling. She wanted to destroy this thing and now look what was happening!

Kasai picked her up, looking her over, "Nami?" he squeaked. She just nodded, feeling dizzy now. "Oh gods… oh gods…" he just repeated while Wu prompted him to keep running or they would be caught again. "Nothing's going to happen… we'll… Diella or somebody will know what to do… I'm sure… oh my gosh I'm sorry…"

Namiko shivered, not knowing why she felt so freezing all of a sudden. They stopped a little ways into the forest around the Fire Temple, looking back in time to see the last two running out. Wu smiled in relief when he saw he was right about them, but then heard his family shouting something to them.

"SAMUKAI'S RIGHT BEHIND US!" Misako shouted. "Let's go go go! He won't follow us if we lose him in here!" she heavily breathed, lungs burning, keeping up with the others better now.

* * *

><p>It didn't take long to get back to town. Hiroshi was sitting with the three kids, trying to keep their minds occupied by something not about where their parents went. They all looked back when the door shut, five adults tiredly in the hall. Lloyd's face lit up when he saw Misako there with them all, leaning against his father.<p>

Kasai just called his two kids into their room, closing it behind them while the rest stayed out of their business right now, as did Wu and Hiroshi when Lloyd and his parents retired to their room for the night.

* * *

><p>Misako laid out on the bed, ready to sleep but knew that they all had to have a little talk, even if Lloyd couldn't really understand everything going on around him. Garmadon was the first to speak up however, "Lloyd…" he swallowed, picking up his son, "I'm so sorry about earlier… I would never hurt you…" the baby stood up on his dad's knees, listening more intently, "And I never ever wanted to scare you… I… I'm just…" his eyes started watering again.<p>

His wife held Lloyd's left hand while Garmadon held right still, "Daddy's sick…" she tried it from a different angle, "He has bad stuff in his blood… and it makes him do things he doesn't want to do… it's really hard for him to control when he gets angry… or sad… it's also hard for him to be happy about something…" Lloyd nodded a bit. "But the nice part is… as long as you love daddy, he can be happy…"

The blonde baby looked up to his father who nodded a bit, trying to just go along with Misako's simplified version of things. Lloyd responded by hugging him as tightly as his little arms possibly could. Garmadon's heart melted and he started crying more, hugging tighter, kissing his son's head, not remembering the last time he felt so much love.

"Why he cry now?" Lloyd mumbled, looking at Misako.

"It's happy tears this time… he's happy you love him… and that I love him too…" she held her husband's shoulder until he laid down next to her, still hugging Lloyd. "Good night honey," she kissed his temple. "We love you so much…" He smiled; squeezing his eyes shut tighter, snuggling more with his family under the blankets, not wanting to worry about anything else.

* * *

><p>Namiko was tucked in on her side of the bed, falling asleep right now. Kasai held his son and daughter on his lap, lowering his head more, "Mommy… is… well… I guess sick now… and I… I'm so bad at this…" he sadly laughed, he loved his kids, he did his best, but he was terrible with a situation like this, "I don't know what's gonna happen to her… okay?"<p>

Kai and Nya looked at their mother, pale and shivering now. She was always rather strong, ready to come to their aide if they got hurt or needed her to get them something, always full of life, that's what they remembered of her.

Kasai looked back and just nodded now, "I'm really sorry, I feel it's my fault… it probably is too… I'm… going to take care of you as much as I can because I don't think your mother will be up to as much as she was… I promise things will be okay though…" he pulled the blanket over her shoulders more.

The new water master tiredly opened her eyes, smiling at her family. Nya looked back and quickly hopped over to her, "Momma?"

"I'll be fine… I promise… we can just spend even more time together now…" Namiko held her daughter's hands, kissing her forehead, "I'll get better… I'm sure…" she closed her eyes, ready to fall asleep. Nya wasted no time in curling up right next to her.

Kai hesitated but laid down with them as well. Kasai just let out a sigh, turning the lights off. _"We'll be fine… we'll make it through like we always had…" _ he laid down next to his son, falling asleep.

**The irony about this chapter heading is I was hasty to finish it for tonight... lolz... Never run with a death potion... you could almost die. **

**So close yet so far... I haven't even started the next chapter *cries* oh well... let's see what happens... it's only more suffering from this point on for our heroes. Just remember the Ten Little Ninja... this is all important stuff right there owo **

**Thanks for reading guys! **

**~Mar**


	98. Date Night

Garmadon sat on the back patio, weakly smiling, seeing his little son running around on his short, little legs, Nina was scampering behind, playing what seemed to be some game they came up with, until the little blonde boy went sailing forward into the ground after tripping over a rock. His heart skipped a beat and he ran over to the toddler, afraid that he was hurt.

"Oh great…" he tiredly said, lifting up the crying boy. "Shhh… come on buddy…" he gently told him, carrying his son inside, wiping his cheeks from his crying and the dirt smudges. "You're okay…" he hugged him more, rocking him. "You're a big boy… you'll be fine… it's okay…" he mindlessly said, looking at the clock. "Argh…" he sighed. Wu was supposed to come around so her could pick up Misako from work and they could have a little date night. In fact, he was supposed to be out the door by now.

Finally the doorbell did ring and he quickly answered it. "What happened to him?" Wu blinked, seeing Lloyd's red face and watery eyes.

"He fell playing… he'll be okay he just tripped…" the brunette walked in more, kissing Lloyd's cheeks. "Daddy's gotta go but me and mommy will back in a few hours… I promise," he smiled. "We'll be back in time to put him to bed and stuff so you don't have to worry about that…" the older sibling looked back at the younger who stiffly nodded at the orders.

Wu never knew how act around his brother anymore. He tried to appear as getting better, but nothing was really changing. He was even more impatient with everyone around him if you could believe it. Really, he was sure that he would never be allowed to be around his nephew if it wasn't for Misako stepping in and saying Wu had every right to see his nephew and to watch him.

What did he do wrong? Nothing in his eyes, he tried his best. Garmadon just wanted to hide in the corner all the time and sulk from pretty much anybody.

Finally Garmadon set Lloyd on the floor, fluffing up his baby soft hair with another weak smile, this was hard for him too even if it would only be a couple of hours, after several years, he grew more and more attached to the baby, "I'll see ya later buddy," he leaned down, kissing the top of his head. He just glanced at Wu without saying a goodbye to him and locked the door behind him.

The younger sibling sighed loudly at last, picking Lloyd up, "Come on, let's go find something to do then," he saw his nephew was looking more upset now that his father was no longer there. "Ugh…" he was dreading this even more because he would spend half the time trying to calm Lloyd down rather than actually doing something with him.

* * *

><p>Finally all was quiet; there was nothing to bother them, in fact, it had been quiet for nearly two years, the occasional Skulkin sighting but lately it was just Wu and Kasai taking care of things while everyone else had lives and Kasai just wanted to get out of the house, depressed by his wife's state still. Namiko was a bit better but she still couldn't drive and work, she had to quit doing the thing she felt she was meant to do.<p>

The couple took a seat in the back where no one would see or be bothered by their constant kissing and Garmadon was just getting tired of most people staring at him in particular. "You know… Lloyd's fourth birthday is coming up next week…" Misako looked down with a bit of a smile, "Last year before he should be starting school…"

"I can't believe how much he's grown up…" Garmadon tiredly wiped his red eyes. "I swear it was only a few days ago we were in the hospital room… holding him…" he sadly smiled at the memory. She brought him out of that thought with another kiss. "Thanks…" he looked back up at her when she was done.

"It's only four… he's not really growing up anytime soon… we still have years to come with him…" she laughed a bit, "And he loves you… a lot…" she held his hands from across the table. "And I love you too…" It became quiet again between the two, "I talked with Namiko today… she sounded a lot better… I think she'll be up and about again in no time… at least doing housework… the kids apparently never leave her side for anything…"

"It's been two years… some improvement if she's just starting to be able to work and stuff again…" he mumbled under his breath.

"She's our friend," Misako poked his nose, "And we're supposed to help her and be supportive of both her and Kas… and that also means their kids too! I know you and Kai never were friendly… but they're still family and you're still considered their uncle under Namiko's… persistence"

"I know," he growled a bit. "I can't help it if I feel like this all the freaking time… after more than forty four years of knowing me… you'd think you'd know that by now".

"I do," she shrugged with a warm smile. "Come on, it's getting late and I thought you wanted to make it back home in time to put Lloyd to bed," she grabbed her jacket, slipping it on. He nodded, getting up with her. She rested her head against his shoulder as they walked out together. She couldn't see, but he gave a faint smile.

* * *

><p>At home, they found Wu half asleep with Lloyd, watching some old black and white movie that was on about samurai and ninja. Misako walked around the couch, patting her brother in-law's head and scooping her son up. The younger man jumped to his feet and breathed in relief when he saw it was just them. "Ever since Ronin and Hatsu kidnapped him and over powered me, I get spooked like that with him around! Don't do that when I'm sleeping…"<p>

"I'm sorry," the smaller woman laughed, hugging him with her free arm. "Thank you for watching him".

"Yea… thanks…" Garmadon mumbled; looking after his wife nudged him to say something as well.

Wu smiled, "Well he may have been some trouble at first when you left, but he mellowed out and he wanted to watch a movie with me. I'm happy you both had a nice time together; just let me know if you ever need someone to watch him again, I'm happy to give you a break. Though, tomorrow, Kas and I were going out to investigate something on the other side of Ignacia, hopefully not all day though… who knows anymore though, right?"

"Okay, thank you Wu and good luck tomorrow," Misako showed him to the door, feeling her son nodding out again, laying his head on her shoulder, sucking his thumb and yawning.

Back inside, the two parents tucked their sleepy son away for the night, closing the door behind them when they made sure he was sleeping soundly. Garmadon had an actual smile on his face now. She slipped her hand in his and towed him away from the door so they could go to bed. "Come on daddy… he'll be there in the morning," she laughed when he hugged her close by her shoulder.

* * *

><p>Wu showed up at Kasai's house, it was still pretty early and most of the town wasn't quite awake yet. The black haired man answered the door with a tired smile. "Hey… come on in…" he yawned, opening the door more to let his best friend inside. It was obvious he wasn't getting any sleep himself.<p>

The blonde spied a small figure up and about and smiled a bit, "Looking better Namiko," he caught her attention.

She looked over her shoulder with a little smile as well, "Thank you Wu..." she slowly walked over, giving him a gentle hug, "I won't something like keep me down forever you know… even you should know that by now I think," she smirked a bit.

"Where're the kids?" he just noticed, looking around when he didn't hear a loud ruckus of play fighting.

"Playing out back… I finally am getting everyone to leave my side and not worry about me twenty four seven," she eyed Kasai with a deeper frown. He looked away from her, blushing, "Honestly, I'm not dying! I'm just a bit weaker than I was! That elixir sucked a lot of energy out of me…" she managed to swat his shoulder. "Now go on! We'll be just fine here! Your depressed attitude rubs off on Kai and Nya way more than you want to think!"

"Okay okay!" the black haired one held his hands up. "We're going, we're going!" he shoved Wu out the door with him before his wife found her strength again literally kick them out, "We'll see you later Namiko," he kissed her cheek quickly before having her close the door. "I just need to grab my sword from the workshop. I was sharpening it last night actually… again…"

The two men set out; taking the road to the other side of town where whoever contacted them about this disturbance lived. To the two men's surprise, it was a small group of kids. "You four called up saying about a snake problem?" Wu blinked at them all; suddenly, this was looking fishy.

"Uh-huh," the only girl of the group nodded. "Something keeps taking things from our parents' farms and we know it's a monster or something!" she had to be at least twelve or fourteen even. "Our parents keep saying that it's a bunch of rabbits or something… but it's just trashing things… it's not eating crops really… well… not like how I rabbit would I mean… and we know better… I read all kinds of books about… well… Serpentine…"

Kasai and Wu exchanged glances, thinking this was turning into some kind of elaborate prank to play on them. Where was this going exactly? "Well… what did it look like then? If you think you saw Serpentine? I'm pretty sure we locked them up years ago, before you were even born probably…"

"Like a giant snake or something! It didn't look upright like the pictures…it was green I think and it slithered like a regular snake but it didn't look normal… I only saw its tail and I never saw it again…" one of the boys spoke up next. The other three were nodding in agreement with him.

They looked at one another again and back to the kids. "Well then…why don't we investigate this and get it over with?" Wu sighed, scratching the back of his head.

**Ugh, I had no better title for this thing...**

**Soon... very soon all the angst is coming hahahaha... I think I'll be able to update Friday too again... I'm trying so hard not to butcher the rest of the story just because I want to get it finished XP**

**Sooo... I always wondered how the Great Devourer got to where he was... or how the Serpentine terrorized Ninjago with a huge snake only to have a tiny one years later bite Garmadon... I'm making own plot at this point just to hopefully make sense of everything... **

**Thanks for reading :) See you guys later!**

**~Mar**


	99. Snake Hunt

The kids led the ninja to the closest farm which belonged to two of the kids, a huge penned in rice field that looked pretty normal in every way, all except for the decent sized hole that had been ripped through it, close to the ground too. Wu looked it over with a frown and then turned back to the kids, "You're sure it was a snake? You're not pulling our legs are you?" He thought it was the work of wire cutters at first glance.

"No sir… there's holes like this all around here… it started on my parents' farm and now people are saying something's making its way all around Jumanokai… we're not making this stuff up… even if we tried…" one of the boys who was assumed to be the brother to girl, spoke up. "Someone's baby also died and her mom said it looked like a snake bite in her side… you can ask her for yourself… it looked like a snake bite when a doctor took a look… news is starting to spread…"

Kasai and Wu looked at even more surprised at this additional news. The blacksmith frowned when Wu turned away; he knew what this sounded like. Kasai may have met the brothers a few years after the incident, but from the stories Misako and Wu told, a similar situation happened with Garmadon. "Wu… I know what you're thinking… but no one has seen that snake in forever… it's been decades since Garmadon was bitten… I know the first one was slain by your father hundreds of years ago… but… a second one? Really? Why would it be here?"

"It has to be it… What else could it be? Snakes don't normally live around here Kas and you should know, you live here! They normally live in the Merida Province in the desert region and more southward and you know it… I know it's a long shot… magical snakes…" the blonde looked over his shoulder, a hint of sarcasm. "You know that there was a Great Devourer long ago when the Serpentine were first made, you just said so… Our mother believed that Garmadon was bit by the Devourer… if not, a new one… she said so herself to me that it was a miracle that my brother lived… that goes to show you people normally die from its bite…"

The kids looked at one another, scared to hear information like that coming from the two men. If a snake like that was on the loose… that would be a horrible thing for everyone, especially if it was going to get bigger of course. "Ugh, I hate it when you actually make sense…" Kasai scrunched his nose a bit whenever Wu was talking smart and logically to him. "I guess we need to find this before more people start dropping dead left and right…"

"Yes… we should… and I'm known to be pretty smart a lot you know, Misako seemed to rub off on me a good amount…" Wu started walking, "Come on now slowpoke! Let's get this over with! If we are dealing with the new Great Devourer, I think we need to act quickly and do something about it!"

"Meh, whatever you say 'Sensei Wu'," Kasai mocked his best friend. The four kids noticed the two masters were leaving and decided to follow along.

Wu just rolled his eyes at the stupid, sarcastic comment, "I'm a ninja… same as you… I'm nowhere near reaching the rank of sensei… not like my father… I could never be that smart and powerful…" The blonde lowered his head just thinking about it. Could he really replace their dad? The man who created Ninjago, wise beyond comprehension? He was the stupid younger brother, what did he really know about wisdom?

_"__Nah… my brother's more of a leader I guess… even if he's unstable he's still probably smarter than I am about things…" _

* * *

><p>Misako forced the bathroom door open a bit after knocking several times, knowing her husband was still in there. He was in there for at least ten minutes, she knew he wasn't in there to use the toilet after three, but she had decided to give him some space. She found him sitting on the edge of the bathtub, holding his face in his hands. Lloyd was occupied with the television and not caring that his parents weren't in there right now, so she shut the door again, walking over and sitting beside him.<p>

She managed to get him to sit up more and look at her, keeping a hand on his back reassuringly. "Mimi…" he quietly held his hands to her face, "It's not going away…" his red eyes were glowing bright, tears welling up in them again.

She knew what that meant naturally. She couldn't help but think it seemed it was a good day to be off from work as she folded her arms around him tightly, humming to him. "Fight it…" she murmured softly to him after a while, rubbing his back. "You know you should have died from that bite and you made it this far… just keep fighting it baby…"

"I'm trying…" he sniffed. "Oh I'm trying so hard…" he hugged his wife tighter without realizing it. He felt lightheaded as they sat together, embracing while he did his best to not hyperventilate.

Finally, Misako managed to push him back by the shoulders so she could kiss him. It was aggressive on his end; he was crying more as he did it. She would never dare admit it to him or anyone else for that matter, that deep down, every time she went to bed, she would be scared of waking up without him there the next day. If she told him that, he would feel so guilty and she didn't want that for him.

"Come on…" she whispered to him, kissing his cheek at last, "I'm sure Lloyd's wondering where we went… and I could use some help with wrapping his birthday presents for the party this weekend… do you think you could help me out with that?"

He looked back to her bright, green eyes and nodded in agreement. "Okay…" he croaked at last, following her out, holding her hand tightly as she led him down the hall again.

* * *

><p>"This is going to take forever…" Kasai sighed, it had been several hours and so far they saw no sign of this snake the two ninja were hunting down. To top it off, there were the four kids following him and Wu around, asking a bunch of questions about what they've done, what their lives were like, and everything in between. Kasai looked back at the kids after they finally ceased their questions for the moment.<p>

"Come on, just let them follow us… it's no big deal…" Wu elbowed his friend. "You shouldn't be such a hot head… for a guy who has kids; you don't seem to like most kids… and I'm the single one… not to mention… I'm pretty sure we were just like them when we were their age…"

"Exactly… Maybe I think that if they follow us… they could get hurt… that's what Masuta told us anyways… our lives are not for the normal…" the black haired one sighed. "Not to mention…" he looked over his shoulder again and spied the four, laughing and talking with one another more, "You know… I freak out when my own kids get hurt… I don't want them to get bit or something… they seem really curious… and you know… we all had our share of bad things when we got too curious… even to this day…"

"I'll keep an eye on them, okay? It'll be fine," Wu smiled brightly, hanging back a bit to let Kasai lead the way. The blacksmith sighed a bit, closing his eyes as he walked straight forward. Suddenly he was pulled back by the belt of his robe, "HEY! WATCH OUT!" Out of instinct he drew his sword, looking around.

"I think it went that way!" one of the boys shouted loudly.

"Hmm?" Kasai looked around, "You saw it?"

"It was fast but… yea…" Wu looked around the ground quickly. "shh," he told the kids, "climb up there and just wait… it won't be safe on the ground…" he pointed to a tree. The four quickly obliged the older man's orders.

"Wu…" Kasai sighed, "We… we should go back… come on… they need to go home and I think we need to tell Garmadon and Misako and get more people in on this with us…"

The blonde looked at him, eyebrow raised, "Are you kidding? We can't possibly tell my brother about this… he'd go mental… more than normal I mean… it's here now… so… why can't I just do this for him? This was the creature that ruined his life… that ruined my life! Everyone's life! If it weren't for this thing, my brother wouldn't be the wreck he is!"

The fire ninja sighed, seeing the guilt in Wu's eyes. He knew and was told several times how guilty the younger brother felt because of that day when he was five, accidentally letting go of the katana he received when the brothers were young. He was too scared to go and get the sword and so that led his brother to grab it, getting bitten which led them to this very moment. Now here he was with the chance to at least try to help amend things by getting rid of this snake.

The brown eyed one smiled a bit, punching the other in the shoulder, "Okay… okay… I'm with you… but we gotta stay focus and not go wandering out…"

"Of course," the other smiled, drawing his sword as well.

They both fell silent, hearing a faint hissing of a snake, somewhere in the taller grass on the sides of the path they were travelling on. _"Over there_," Kasai gestured and slowly stepped, careful not to rustle the grass too much so they wouldn't disturb their hopefully unsuspecting prey.

The four kids in the tree were craning their necks, trying to get a better view, excited to see the two ninja at work, tracking down a monster like this. Kasai looked around, slowly raising his blade so that the tip was pointing down and his slammed it into the ground, a loud, angered hiss coming from the grass. "Hey! I think I got it!" he let out a breath at last, just noticing how much he was sweating. He stepped back a bit more, not wanting it to bite his leg or something.

Wu hacked the grass away with his sword, staring down at the monstrosity they had caught. "This has to be it…" he breathed. It had beady, pink red eyes and sickly green colored scales. Altogether it looked to be about six feet long, give or take a few inches. "I…" he wiped his face. "Now what do we do?" he also stood back.

"I… uh… I don't know… try slicing it through…" Kasai bit his lip, pulling out a ninjato. "We gotta get rid of this thing!"

They were there for several minutes before their company climbed down to see what was going on. "The scales are too thick… I…-AHH!" Wu jumped back, startled when the injured creature lashed out, nearly biting his ankle. "What are we gonna do is right…"

"Oh hey… doesn't Diella know about this stuff too? If we can't kill it… made she'll know what we can do with it… she can find some place to lock it up… right? Before it kills or hurts someone else… we don't need more people dead or well… ya know, like your brother…" Kasai chewed the inside of his cheek, thinking it all over in his head. Wu nodded, pulling out his phone. When in doubt, ask the sister of Delilah for assistance in disposing of your magical creatures.

"Wow… so that's a Serpentine?" the girl asked, pointing to the writhing creature.

The two ninja nodded, "Yes… it sure looks like it… I still don't believe this… it really was that snake… it would have to be… look at its fangs…" Wu pointed while the phone on the other end rang. "Aunt Diella? Ye… it's Wu… we… we need some help… uh with what? I think we found the snake that bit my brother… okay… I look forward to seeing you…"

He had hung up and turned to Kasai, "Under no circumstances do we tell Garmadon or Misako about what we did today… I don't know how they'll react if they found out we caught this… thing…"

"Right…" the brown eyed one slowly nodded. "What do you think she'll do with it?"

"Who cares, as long as it's disposed of… she can trap it in the Ruins of Ouroboris for all I care…" Wu scrunched his nose in disgust.

**Guess who's gotten ahead of herself again wrote several more chapters in advance? This guuuy.**

**I tried to make sense of things... hopefully it made some... more bad things happen on Monday *W* I think I have the rest of this one all planned out and hopefully I'll manage to write more over the weekend and have updates three times a week because I'm just so close to being done. **

**Thanks for reading though! See you guys later!**

**~Mar**


	100. Wilted Rose

Lloyd was seated on his father's lap, toying around with a new stuffed animal he got from Wu for his birthday. Garmadon was just happy everyone had left. Yea he missed seeing the others who came down to visit for his son's birthday, but he just wanted it quiet like normal. The toddler finally fell asleep on top of him, cuddling close. He should have carried him to bed but the father was afraid to disturb his son who looked so peaceful so they just laid there on the couch together.

Eventually he got up when Misako went upstairs to go to bed, quickly laying Lloyd down and tucking him away in his own little bed before catching his wife just before she fell completely asleep. "Hmm?" she opened her eyes a little when she heard the mattress shake a bit and smiled when she saw her husband hugging her entire body like a big pillow. "I love you honey…" she turned her head to kiss him goodnight, exhausted from entertaining people all day.

"I love you too…" he murmured in her ear, resting his cheek against hers. He seemed awfully cuddly tonight, which was a very nice change of pace, as of late, he wasn't this affectionate and even shied away when she tried to kiss his cheek earlier. Misako lifted her hand to brush his cheek and lace her fingers through his dark hair. He kissed her again after she did that, both finally falling asleep, twined up together.

* * *

><p>The next morning was not as nice as their night, Wu called early afternoon, and from the way he seemed to be talking, it was not such a good thing.<p>

It was just like when they're father was dying; Wu never gave a straight answer, this time? What did it mean? Why would he tell them they had to come up for a 'team meeting'? When they reached the monastery, they were met with Wu, Crevan, and Kasai, behind them was someone they recognized easily enough, it was Rose's husband, their son at his side; Louis and Cole.

But no Rose was among them.

"Is… there something wrong?" Misako swallowed hard, feeling a lump in her throat and a sour feeling in her stomach, why were they all here like this? Where was her friend? When she looked at Garmadon, he was white as a ghost, like he knew everything that must have happened.

"Last night… Rose was killed…" the smaller man looked away, squeezing his eyes shut, Cole looked down at his feet, silent. "Some whack job broke in and she tried to fight them… she had a sword and he had a gun, you can work the rest out for yourself…" Louis sounded bitter towards the others, not even looking them in the eye. How could he? She was a part of their club who fancied old weapons compared to guns.

"No no no…" Garmadon quickly mumbled under his breath, his heart racing, "No… it was a lie… I…" His legs felt weak suddenly.

"Garmadon?" Misako looked up at him, holding their own son. "What's wrong? Why are you saying this?" she started shaking, wondering if he really did know something about this. She tried to help support him as well as get him to answer her.

"I knew she was going to die… I… she was next…" he held a hand to his face. "First Ella and now her… I swear it lied but it happened anyways…" He looked at the others; did this mean that everything he heard about the others was to happen as well? He was freaking out more just thinking about that.

"It… it was just a freak thing… it's not the first or last time… why do you think this is your fault brother?" Wu tried to reason. He was responsible for one death; he wasn't about ready to let him take fault for another's when he really did nothing to cause it.

"You were her friends… I just thought you should know…" Louis looked back at Wu. He then noticed Cole looking at the older ninja, looking a bit hopeful and intrigued by the people his mom was friends with. "And I'm sending Cole to a boarding school… he's not getting involved with… you kind of people… I won't let him turn out the same way Rose did… No fighting… No swords…" He clenched his hands into fists, "I'm planning the funeral for two weeks from tomorrow… be there if you wish… I won't stop you, you knew her longer and possibly better than I did…I'm sure she'd be happy if you did…" he snapped his fingers, "Let's go Cole…"

"Yes sir…" Cole sighed, looking back at Wu who also looked rather upset at his father's words before trailing along after his dad.

"I still don't believe this…" Crevan covered his face, "I knew Rose… she grew up with me in my village for a short time until she moved away with her parents to Ninjago City but… but we still always kept in contact… I just…" he squeezed his eyes shut. It wasn't fair was what he wanted to say but the others knew. "She was so strong and… it makes sense she went down protecting her home and her family I guess… at least it was worthy enough for someone like her… She took pride in protecting her son… no matter what it was… now Louis was cut their son off from ever being like her if he wanted…"

Garmadon just sat there with a blank stare at the ground, hands running through his messy hair, teeth clenched and loudly breathing. _"No… no no no no no… why!? Who's next…" _ he shook his head more now. _"Anthony or Cre!? Namiko… Kas… Tanaka or my own brother?! Mimi?"_

He then noticed everyone was staring at him, looking more worried and even scared by his state of mind clearly showing on his pale face. He felt like he was about to throw up and looked like it as well. Who could blame him? They just saw her the day before and literally over night she was gone.

Misako finally set Lloyd down who looked back at his dad, slowly going to walk over to him, not smiling, but showing concern as well though he didn't quite understand why everyone was sad. He leaned forward, a hand on one of his knees. Garmadon felt the touch and looked right down at the green eyed boy who offered a kind smile at him. Sniffing, he wrapped his arms around him, pulling him up, kissing the side of his head. He remembered one of the last ones where it said that Misako would leave him.

How could she? They had Lloyd; they would be okay as long as they were together, right? But there was still that gnawing feeling in the back of his mind that this was going to just keep getting worse like it always had. Forty five years and life did nothing but wear on him physically, mentally, and emotionally. He felt Wu sit next to him now, not saying anything but placing a hand on his shoulder.

* * *

><p>The others were quickly notified that their team of nine had dropped to eight with the death of one of their strongest and kindest members. It was a harder hit that Ella's death was for the team as a whole. Everyone knew Rose longer than they did Ella, talk about hitting right at home where it hurt the most.<p>

It was kind of funny, just when you thought things were nice and okay, something like this decides to happen to break you down again. Just when Garmadon thought he could at least try and sleep through the night again, he did nothing but think about the death of the others, even himself, especially for Lloyd's sake. Then where would his son be? Alone forever without a friend in the world to care about him. Guilt and worry plagued his dreams night after night.

* * *

><p>Something shook him awake and he flew upright, vision blurred, covered in sweat and shaking. He felt gentle hands touch his face and shoulder. It had to be Misako by the feel of it. "You were thrashing in your sleep and you started screaming before I had to wake you…" her eyes were welling up. Their door creaked open and Lloyd was standing there, looking startled by everything that he heard going on in their room.<p>

"Daddy…?" he quietly asked; he could see the bright red glow of his eyes; he remembered they shone that bright whenever he was enraged or scared, or any powerful emotion for that matter. He crawled into bed, sitting between both parents; they hugged him together, kissing his cheeks while Garmadon tried not to cry. "I love you…" he yawned again. Misako kissed his cheek, saying back to him.

"I… I love you too… you have no idea", Garmadon wiped his eyes. "I love you so much Lloyd… I love you and mommy… and… I'm sorry… I disturbed your sleep… I can't do anything right…" he continued to shake while his wife and son hugged him.

"It's okay…" Misako whispered, closing her eyes, "Shhhh… I have you… and I'm not letting go…"

"Mimi… she died… Rosie died…" he started crying uncontrollably, "Rosie's gone and she was one of your best friends… she was my friend… she's gone…" he kept repeating it, wondering how she could stay so self-controlled. "She… she didn't deserve to die like this…"

His wife nodded more, "I know she didn't… I know my dear…" she kissed his cheek a few more times, "No one blames you because you have done nothing wrong… it's okay... how could you have possibly known about her dying? It isn't your job to make sure everyone you hold close lives… things happen… it's out of your control…" her arms tightened around him and their little son who was still awake, hugging Garmadon with her.

"Well I hate it!" he opened his eyes, so bright they were lighting up the room a bit. Misako quietly sighed, resting her cheek against his shoulder, petting her son's baby soft hair.

This was going to be a long night for all of them.

**Oh look... I did that mean thing again didn't I? Rosie had to go... she was #9 on the list... just remember the poem of the Ten Little Ninjas... not all will die... but not all will live either... owo**

**So like I said in the last update, I might try for three times a week... who knows. For this year's Halloween fic, I finally decided what I'll do, a bunch of small one or two part stories compiled into a bit of a parody of "Tales from the Crypt" only it would be more comical. My friend and I were coming up with ideas together and I plan on getting started on it this weekend, around the end of the month I'll post it :3**

**So see ya guys later and thanks for reading!**

**~Mar**


	101. Hello Stranger, I'm a Disaster

Garmadon stared out the window with dead looking eyes, just like how he was seeing everything lately, lifeless and empty, kind of how he thought the day was like. It was the true beginnings of winter and snow was covering the entire city and the sky was gray and overcast.

His wife was walking by but stopped, looking at his coffee she made for him that was untouched and cold now. She looked down, wishing she knew what she could do for him. Nothing she did was helping him now and this half frustrated, half depressed her. This wasn't good or healthy for either of them, especially having Lloyd exposed to it, if he was even picking up on it yet, he probably saw this as normal.

"Hey uh… so it's my day off…" she swallowed. He seemed unresponsive, not even a nod of acknowledgement, normally, he would show signs of being thrilled, "I uh… things have been kind of slow so… Mr. Wilson is… uh… giving me the whole next week off too… so I can get three weeks in for winter break when the museum's closed…" she bit her lip. He shrugged a shoulder. "I was going to go to the store right now… Is… there anything that you want me to get?" Still nothing. "And, uh… I was thinking… if Wu can watch Lloyd tonight… we can… I don't know… get out of the house and do something…" she sighed, shaking her head, wiping her eyes. "Honey?"

After more silence she loudly sighed, dropping her purse on the table and dragging a chair over to where he was staring, "Hey!" she loudly said. His eyes finally looked down at her as he quietly sighed. "Please…" he noticed her bright green eyes watering. "Please just say something… don't shut me out like what happened with Ella… this is not your fault! Stop taking all the blame for things you had no part in!"

"I knew… I had this gut feeling, and I never told anyone though…" he plainly said. "I knew… I knew… and I even lied to myself… how long will it before you leave me too? You… my wife… my best friend… I would die without you…"

"Stop that," she looked away, heart aching at the thought of that. "Just stop it!" she loudly said. "I… I don't want to hear any of that bullshit! How the hell were you supposed to know that was to happen!? The time and place and just who it was going to be!?" She snapped. "I had the chance to be killed time and time again and I'm still here… there were a million opportunities I had to leave you… and I didn't… because I love you…" she was getting choked up now. "I love you so much I want to do nothing but see you happy again… like how things used to be… before we were so… damaged…"

She took her glasses off as she squeezed her eyes shut. "I want to laugh with you again… I want you to have the same fire you used to have… I wish we would argue over what color to paint Lloyd's room or what dress you want me to see me wear at a party… or drinking too much at the tavern and sleep for the entire next day because we need to blow off steam… just… being happy just being together… no matter what we did…"

"I wish I could feel like that again at will… you have no idea Misako…" he brushed his thumb over her cheek. "I just feel so empty… it's been for a while now, even before Rosie died… and I don't know why… You made that feeling go away… now I don't even feel that relief when I'm with you and Lloyd… I know I love you… but I… I just don't feel it anymore… or at least all the time… not like I used to…"

She just stared at him, tears dripping down her cheeks slowly. He closed his eyes, turning his head away. "I knew you'd look at me like that… how could you not?" he leaned is elbows on the table, covering his face more. "I try to prove my dad was wrong about me… but I should have known I'd end up this way with you… I'm just blunt and… I say all the wrong things… I'm a disaster… everything I put my hands to it's just gonna blow up in my face!"

Misako looked away too, seeing it was starting to snow again out the window. "I never cared about how unstable of a person you were… I never once thought about that when we made love… when I carried your children… when I married you, and every day of my I spent in this house with you… You're not that snake bite! You're so much more!" she raised her voice more. "If you can't fight it anymore… then what life will you have? Whether I'm in it or not?! You're not some all powerful being, but you can't let these things tear you down…"

"When I went to rescue you in the Underworld… years ago when Lloyd was still pretty much a baby… I… I traveled a dark route… it was all a foreshadow Mimi… it said that even you were going to leave me too eventually… is today that day?"

"I…" she looked at him. "I… no!" she wiped her eyes, "I don't want to… I love you… I just… want to be felt like I'm actually needed, like I'm your wife… not just to take care of Lloyd… not just to… to have you silently try to express you love me… I know it's hard… I've watched you change so much over forty years… but I wouldn't think you were so brave and strong though if you weren't trying so hard…"

"Heh… I always knew you were a good leader… You try so hard to have hope in everything…" he shook his head, tracing a finger down the side of her face, "even if I'm the only dying cause you ever had hoped in… to be honest, it's one of the reasons I love you so much…"

She turned her face into his hand that was still on her face, "Y-you aren't a dying cause… stop that… I love you…"

"If I really did turn evil because of this bite like what the books and scrolls say… or if I died trying to actively hurt people… would you keep telling people that? Would you keep telling people that I was the one you loved with all your heart? If I was condemned to prison because of trying to take over Ninjago… would you follow? Would you dare to be with me, abandoning everything if I did snap?"

She looked back at him. This meant she was abandoning the light to chase the darkness, to chase _him._ She opened her mouth, nothing came out, not a cry, word, sigh. The look in his eyes made her close it again, another tear leaking down her face before she found her voice, "Y-yes…" she shakily said, "B-but… that doesn't matter… because you won't…"

"Do you know that for a fact-?"

"Shut up…" she had thrown herself forward, hugging him as tightly as she could. "Please please please shut up…" she repeated once again. It was times like this that she was most happy Lloyd was taking a nap upstairs in his room, this would be a lot harder to talk about with him up and about. "I hate talking about this! It's all we ever talk about and I want to be happy!"

Finally she let go and pulled away only to have his hands grab her face, crashing their mouths together. "That's my Garmy…" she whispered before they sealed the gap again, still crying.

"I want to be happy with you too… but please remember… no matter what I say… no matter what I do… especially if I am not sane… I love you… you are the only woman I ever will love… please… never forget that…"

The look in his eyes were pain filled. She nodded a little, understanding fully how he felt. "I'm sorry… I know this is so hard for you too… I don't want to be giving you anymore guilt…" she sniffed.

"Hey… I'd be hurt too if you didn't kiss me or told me that you loved me enough…" he admitted, kissing her cheek gently. "You have a right to want that as my wife… without a breakdown to snap me out of that like this…" he rested his forehead against hers, enjoying this quiet moment. "I don't know what's wrong with me anymore… I'm just… sick… you don't deserve this… I might feel dead inside… but I promise… I'm trying…"

"I know baby," she held his hands tightly. "I know you are…"

He managed to weakly smile at her, kissing her forehead, "And I would love to take you out tonight… I think we both really need it…" When she leaned against his chest, he rested his head on top of hers. "I don't care what it is… you can pick…"

"I'd settle for a movie and coffee…" she smiled a bit, listening to his heart beat, "I love you so much…"

"I love you too my love…" he murmured back, liking this warmer feeling that seemed to grace itself upon him for once in his life.

**1. It's so ironic how I was going to post this one tonight because I'm feeling a bit like Garmadon... 2. I couldn't think of a title... so I just took a lyric from Green Day's Brutal Love "Hellow Stranger, I'm a Disaster" which the song kinda fits this I guess? Idk anymore... tbh I was going to delete this chapter but I think it's serving a purpose in Garmadon's quick slipping into darkness... especially in the next one or two it gets REALLY bad...  
><strong>

**So apologies for doing this so flippety late. I've been sick for the pat two days and I had no motivation to even write In Another World...**** so sorry to say that's on hiatus for week or two... or three...**

**So... also sorry to say... we're getting closer here guys... this is so painful for me hahaha especially the next one... my poor baby... why must it come to this? btw, technically speaking, since the 1st chap is the 'prologue' this is the actual 100th chapter. Monday was the 100th update... I also have 2 epilogues. One I came up with yesterday and the original one I already had written... I take it you all would be interested in seeing both ends?**

**Thanks for reading! Next Saturday I will hopefully get started on my Halloween mini story series. Prepare for 0 canon following, water guns, pranks, and all laughs. It will be the most unserious thing you will ever read in your entire life. **


	102. Unknown

Garmadon laid on his stomach, leaning on his elbow, lazily watching his son play around with his toys and the cat, looking over every once in a while, wondering why his father looked so depressed all the time, almost no matter what he did. "Daddy?" he tilted his head.

"Hmm?" he looked up at his son and then noticed he must have picked up on his position and expression, "Oh uh… what's wrong buddy?" he tried to look like he was paying attention the whole time, but he knew it wouldn't probably work.

"Why do you always look sad?" he asked, holding his stuffed dog closer to him.

"Because I… had a lot of sad things happen to me…" he decided to answer, "Sometimes I think about them a lot… and I get sad all over again… and I don't always like to smile or play with you…" he swallowed, "I'm sorry… I always feel bad when I think like that… I know I'm not a good dad…" he then apologized, knowing that was kind of a bad thing to admit to your son.

Instead of being upset, Lloyd didn't seem to care, he let go of his plushie and held it out to his dad who smiled, "He makes me feel happy, maybe it do the same with you".

Garmadon couldn't help but laugh at the gesture. He ruffled the boy's hair who smiled back, "Thank you… very much…" he nodded a bit. "Thank you Lloyd… you're such a wonderful boy… if there was one good thing that has happened to me besides marrying mommy… it's you…"

The two hugged which resulted in the father tickling his toddler. The squeals of his laughter made him smile again, even more. After a few moments he stopped, his son resting his head on his chest. "I love you so much…" he repeated, closing his eyes, feeling like falling asleep.

"Daddy?" Garmadon opened one eye to look at Lloyd, "Why are there those dark marks under your eyes?" he innocently asked, "They look funny…"

"It's… because when I don't get enough sleep… they start to show up; my eyes don't get enough rest… when you and mommy go to bed… I don't always do as well… do… you know when you have nightmares and you want to crawl into bed with me and mommy?" Lloyd nodded his head, "Well that happens almost every night with me… and sometimes… I'm afraid to sleep…"

"Oh…" Lloyd slowly nodded again. "How come you sleep when I come in though?"

"Easy," the brunette grinned a bit, "Because I have you there with mommy… and I know you both care about me so much… and I love you both so much too… and I trust you to keep me safe," he turned on his side, hugging his precious son closer than before. "Like, I could fall asleep right now with you here… right now…" he yawned a bit.

The blonde boy yawned a little bit too, "I'm sleepy too… but I'll make sure nothing happens to you when you sleep…" he nuzzled close to his father.

Garmadon chuckled again, "Thank you Lloyd, I feel safer already." Lloyd giggled as well and eventually; they both fell asleep with one another on the floor of his little room.

* * *

><p>Tanaka was staying at the monastery for the last week he was down south with Zane instead of spending the remainder with Crevan and Seliel in his little town. Wu found it nice to have someone around for once in a very long time. He almost was thinking he would forget what it was like to have any family around.<p>

It was a really nice feeling… until Tanaka decided to have his sixth sense ruin a nice, quiet mood. The gray eyed ninja ran a hand through his hair when Wu was passing through the living room, not looking happy. The blonde with the barely noticeable graying hair looked over, and knew something wasn't quite right.

"Hey, what's up? Zane in the courtyard meditating or… you know…" he shrugged. "Is uh, something wrong?"

"I…" he closed his mouth, frowning before continuing to speak, "I have this strange feeling… When was the last time you spoke to Anthony?" he turned to face Wu.

"Oh, uuh… A few weeks ago… a little bit before Christmas I think… Misako said he called to wish her a happy birthday but I haven't spoken to him since… I don't think anyone has to be honest… Why?" he started showing concern because this normally meant a bad thing, he was hoping he did not follow Rose in death; another one so close to hers and Garmadon would have another fit of panic.

"I… don't know… I'm certain he is not dead if that is what you're wondering about… but… tell me, his family is linked to shadow masters? On his wife's side yes?"

"Yea, that's what I understood anyways, his daughter apparently is also following that side I think, not sure about his boys though… what; do you think something's wrong with his family?"

"I wish I knew for sure… it's hard to tell… I just know something is up… apparently there is a reason we haven't spoken or seen our friend in a while… what the reason is I don't know personally… Have… you ever tried using the spirit smoke again? I know you haven't in a long time… it's much more insightful for pretty much everything…"

Wu scratched the back of his head, "I… haven't… I don't know… it wasn't working right for me I think… Maybe I never really inherited it from my dad and I was just dozing off during lessons and having crazy dreams from that weird smelling incense," he shrugged, trying to play it off. The reason he stopped though was because what he saw was scaring him.

"I recommend… maybe trying it again…" Tanaka stood up, walking outside with the shorter man, "Who knows… maybe it could come in handy for other reasons… something dark is approaching us my old friend… and I have a horrible feeling your brother is it…" He darkly said it; an eerie breeze rustled the trees outside, creating an ominous sound, adding to the mood.

Wu's eyes widened, he didn't want it to be Garmadon. He wanted to believe that he was doing better so badly he was willing to ignore Tanaka's advice, which was never a good thing to do because he was normally right about his hunches. He wasn't all seeing like Masuta was, but he was the most intuitive man he ever knew.

The lavender clothed man saw the doubt in his friend's blue eyes, "I know you want to believe your brother is a good person… I don't doubt it that he means well from the bottom of his heart; he is my friend as well… I just do not want to see you ignore this and when he breaks, you and Misako and their son will be devastated… he cares so much bunch about them… makes me wonder what measures he will go through with to ensure that…"

"I trust you… and… I will consider it…" Wu nodded, "… even if it means I'll have to face that fear of the unknown again…"

"And I thank you for taking up my advice… now come… let us fetch my son and have tea…" Tanaka didn't even grab a coat when walking outside, just folding his hands into his sleeves while Wu through on a heavy coat, still wondering what it was like to be impervious to the freezing temperatures.

The blonde smiled a bit, liking that idea much better.

* * *

><p>Misako climbed the steps after seeing her husband and son weren't downstairs, she opened the door to Lloyd's room and turned the lights up a bit, holding a hand to her chest when she saw the wonderful sight that welcomed her; her husband was actually asleep, cuddling close with their son on his floor.<p>

"Aww…" she couldn't help but whisper as she quickly grabbed a blanket from the chest and laid it across them, making sure they wouldn't be cold. "My boys…" she sighed, tilting her head before bending over to kiss both of their cheeks before closing the door behind her and going downstairs to make dinner.

* * *

><p>Around an hour later, Garmadon started waking up, feeling groggy but at least more rested than he had felt in weeks. Lloyd also started stirring in his protective hold. Once they were more awake, he carried his son downstairs, happy to see his wife was home. She looked over her shoulder, being greeted with a kiss. "I didn't want to disturb you two, you looked like you were dreaming of nice things…" she admitted, taking Lloyd into her arms as he was waking up more, happy to see her.<p>

"Thanks for that… it _was_ really nice…" he nodded a bit. "Believe it or not, it was probably the best sleep I have ever gotten I think…" he managed to smile again, wiping his still tired eyes.

"Good," his wife nodded, setting Lloyd down on a chair for a moment. "Come on, I just finished making soup and I need to get the bowls down," she nodded towards the kitchen.

He followed her into the next room over before he hugged her from behind, catching her off guard. She laughed a bit when he kissed her neck a few times. "I love you," he kissed her cheek twice before releasing her so that they could eat.

"Love you too," she smiled, hoping that this meant he was getting better instead of meaning he was faking it to keep her and everyone else from worrying about him. She really didn't know anymore.

**Aaaaaaw, more Lloyd and Garmadon moments ;w; don't they just melt your heart?**

**Don't worry, though the next few chapters will solely be directed at Garmadon, Misako, Lloyd, and Wu, everyone else still alive will show up and get their own official 'endings' as well as seeing what everyone has been up to since our main family was separated. I'll most likely go up until Lloyd's about ten or so... I'm not sure... I want to say this'll be at least 115 chapters, and they will start to get long again I think.**

**If I can get chapter 104 done this week, I might post another update Wensday because I only have 2 more in the line up to be posted. I don't want to get too ahead of myself so... who knows... maybe I'll surprise you all owo**

**So thanks for reading! See you guys later! :D**

**~Mar**


	103. Precious One

Another night, another nightmare that forced him awake. Garmadon leaned forward, covering his ears for almost no reason, feeling like throwing up suddenly. _"No no… it's suppose to go away… it's supposed to leave me alone!" _he hissed in his head. _"Leave me alone! I want to sleep… I want to live a normal life!"_

Finally he got out of bed, walking downstairs to where it was cooler and he could clear his head a bit better without disturbing his wife… again. After trying to lie down on the couch in several different positions, he decided to get up and start walking around until he would make himself tired. He finally decided to walk back up the stairs, cracking the door to his son's room just enough to see the toddler sleeping soundly in bed.

He had small smile on his tired face, trying to just think about him, for a brief moment he was calm again and thought about returning to bed to try and sleep through the rest of the night. He couldn't seem to shake the feeling that something was just hanging over his shoulder, much like when he was in the Underworld a few years back, it was always there now though.

_How cute… shame you will forget you ever loved him once you become Lord Garmadon…_

He closed his eyes, _"Wrong… I will never stop loving him… you can't control me in that aspect… you're afraid of how he makes me feel, right? His mother too… you just want them out of my life so you can just control me better… I'm not going to let you do anything that would take me from them…" _he saw the small boy shift in his bed and the father shrank back a little bit, hoping he wouldn't wake up and see him standing there, watching him.

He went to turn but was stopped in his tracks, "Daddy?"

Garmadon squeezed his eyes shut, "dammit…" he quietly cursed. Now he had to go back in to make sure Lloyd wouldn't be spooked hearing someone outside his door in the hallway. "Go back to sleep buddy… it's just me…" he opened the door a bit, not in the mood suddenly, seeing his son was sitting up in bed, alert. "I… was just going to the bathroom and wanted to check up on you… nothing's wrong…"

"You can't sleep…" Lloyd suddenly said. His father looked away; how did he know that? Could he feel something was wrong with him?

"No… no I can't… it's okay though… I'm going back to bed right now," he went to leave again but Lloyd stopped him. When he looked over his shoulder, he saw Lloyd was moving over to make room in his small bed. His dad smiled a bit more at the gesture and knew what he meant by that. "Okay okay…" he sat on the bed, laying back a bit, Lloyd climbed onto his torso and was snuggling close to him. "I love you Lloyd…"

"Love you daddy…" he yawned a bit, resting his head on Garmadon's chest. He quickly wrapped his arms around his son, restraining himself from hugging so tight he could crush him. He couldn't help it, this was his son, his only child; he made this little boy with Misako. This was something he wasn't going to let go of so easily no matter what happened to him.

* * *

><p>The next morning was a little better in all honesty. Lloyd practically was shaking him to get him awake now, Misako finally wandered in after getting dressed, helping her son wake him up, "Honey, I gotta leave for work now… you gotta get up and take care of Lloyd you know…" she gently told him when shaking and poking didn't work.<p>

"Hmmm…" he groaned, pulling her into the bed with him and Lloyd. "No… you stay…" he cuddled her; this made their son laugh at his father's silly behavior towards his mom. He then was pulled over as well, "and you stay too mister…" he opened one eye to look at Lloyd, still laughing.

"No, I need to leave right now," Misako kissed his cheek and then lips, pushing herself up, laughing a bit, "I'll be back before it gets too later, I'll get out as early as possible my love," she moved his shaggy hair from his eyes, kissing him one last time before scooping Lloyd up, "Have fun with daddy now, okay? Make sure he doesn't get into any trouble!"

"Kay momma," he laughed, kissing her quickly before being set back down on the bed. "Bye bye!" he waved as she closed the door behind her. "Daddy… I'm hungry," he shook his shoulder again.

"Okay, okay, I'm up… I'm getting up right now…" he tiredly smiled, picking Lloyd up and carrying him downstairs. "Go get the bag of kitty food and call Nina down so she can eat too," he yawned when he put him back down in the kitchen by the food dish.

"Ninaa," Lloyd shouted, dragging a small bag of cat food from the open cabinet along the tiled floor. The black cat scampered in, pawing at the bag and meowing loudly at Lloyd who was just laughing at her behavior, dumping some food into her bowl which she jumped at right away.

Garmadon sat next to Lloyd at the table, both with a bowl of cereal. He was just watching him eat, thinking about everything, all the times he could have lost this precious child.

There was when Sigan had his Misako in his grip, a knife to her throat that could kill her and the small life she carried, toying with Garmadon's emotions, in Hiroshi's Labyrinth when Misako was pregnant still, if she died from the sickness she contracted, Lloyd also would have died with her, then if they didn't do anything when she went into labor, who knows what would have happened, not to mention Ronin ordering Hatsu to kidnap Lloyd who was still an infant, and then there was his breakdown when Misako was dragged out of Kasai's house by Samukai's underlings.

Every time he dared to think about if luck wasn't on their side, he would start shaking uncontrollably, feeling sick to his stomach at the fact that Lloyd wouldn't be sitting next to him if one of the things went wrong.

_And who knows what else could happen to him! He could drop dead tomorrow! All sorts of evil things lurk in Ninjago; you can't keep him safe from everything! You're just one man!_

Lloyd suddenly looked to his father, wondering why he wasn't looking happy. He looked back to his son's green eyes and shook his head, "Sorry…" he caressed his soft blonde hair, "I wasn't thinking of very nice things… that's all". He sighed, half smiling again. "I'm okay now… I promise…" his son nodded, seeming to accept this and went back to finishing his cheerios.

_You know… if you just listened to me, you could make sure nothing bad could ever happen to him again… the same with your wife, they would be safe forever… come on… be Lord Garmadon… take up the great weapons like your father once did… make this world for you instead… right all the wrongs, destroy all your enemies once and for all…_

_"__That's wrong and you know it… I'm… Misako would never like that…" _he could help but start thinking, _"We're only human… I'm just a mortal… my father was… he made the world with a balance…"_

_When did you ever listen to him? What did that sour old man ever do for you? He was never there for you when your mother died; he barely grieved for her like you did. The same with his own grandchildren when you were in mourning for your precious babies… Become more than 'just a mortal', surpass your father and become a real god among men… I could help you and we would be unstoppable, you just have to get past your fear of the unknown. Make the world in your image, how you want it to be, no more skeletons, or serpentine, time ninjas or demon creatures… safe for your wife and only son…_

_"__But we're all supposed to exist together… there is a certain balance the world has to have… every monster serves its purpose… that's what my mom said… that's what Misako believes… that's what I'm supposed to believe too… it wasn't just my dad…"_

_Silly Garmadon, the ideals of your world are so stupid, defy that, then there would be peace here… go… they're all at the monastery… you could just take them, you are the stronger brother after all… show that your father was truly wrong about you! You can have all the power and make a better world than he could have ever possibly imagined!_

_"__Shut up!"_

_And when the day comes when your enemy will kill your family in front of you, I won't be there again to offer you this partnership and then you'll beg for my help…_

_"__ENOUGH!" _

Garmadon clenched his hands into fists, coming back to reality after a moment of a clear head. "Come on Lloyd… let's play something out back…" he tried to steady his voice so his toddler would not suspect anything.

"It's raining though…" Lloyd looked out the window, very uninterested in that idea.

"Fine, we'll do something inside then…" he stood up slowly.

"But you didn't finish…" Lloyd watched his father pick up both bowls and carry them to the sink, sliding off the chair and following him in more.

"I'm not hungry anymore…" he quietly responded. _"Why couldn't you have the damn day off Misako!?" _he couldn't help but think as he stared out the window, feeling exhausted now.

* * *

><p>Wu stared at the stick of incense in the dimly lit room, he was strongly hesitant in lighting it, afraid of what he was gonna see this time. He then remembered to what Tanaka said and struck the match, lighting the stick, crossing his legs; trying to mentally prepare for whatever he was going to see. He wondered if he even would see anything, if he kept this ability.<p>

As soon as he smelled that incense, it was almost like a nightmare yet he was awake still, just like the first time he did this with his father, he opened his eyes, practically screaming, clutching a hand to his chest and the lights eerily blew out. "W-what did I see?" he whispered to himself.

What did he see was right; a pair of blood red eyes in the shadows of the night, the same color and shape that belonged to his older brother's, greedy hands, the golden weapons, a crack of lightning and a painful scream, and… crying? Colors, shapes, people, it was all a blur, it always was; maybe he was just really out of practice and something freak happened?

Wu shook his head slowly, something was coming, and it was coming very, very soon. The blonde hugged himself, leaning against the wall and closing his eyes, huddling more in a ball position. "Please let this not be what I think it is… let it not be him… not even I could handle it…"

* * *

><p>It felt like years until they heard that familiar turn of the lock, which notified them that mommy was home. Lloyd went booking over to her as she bent over to scoop him up, spinning around once and kissing his cheeks, "Aaw, I missed you too baby," she cuddled him a bit as Garmadon stood up. "Hey… you okay?" she looked to him next, tilting her head a bit, showing slight worry.<p>

"Never better," he hugged her and Lloyd, kissing her cheek, "I just really missed you is all…"

"Mm-hm…" she slowly nodded, looking back to their son, setting him down, "Hey honey, why don't you go find Nina and play a bit? Hmm? I wanna talk with daddy, I haven't seen him all day," she ruffled his bleach blonde hair and the two went up stairs together to talk in private. "Please tell me what happened…" she held his hands.

"I promise Misako, I'm okay… I'll be fine… I just… I'm fine…" his eyes started watering a bit, just thinking about all the thoughts that went through his head that morning. He couldn't tell her any of that! She would never let him out of her sight again! She narrowed her eyes as if reading his mind, "Mimi please…" he rested his forehead against hers, "It's just hard having you leave every morning… I know you have to work; I know you love your work… I don't always trust myself though… no matter how much you say you trust me…"

"Honey…" she sighed, hugging him tightly, "It'll be okay… don't worry…" she felt him kiss the top of her head. "Come on… I'll make dinner…" she kissed his cheek, holding his hand tightly.

**Oh guess what falls on Monday? The end of all your feels... and mine owo Just in time for Mean Mondays with Marmar...**

**My precious child... why must I finish this story? You know what? No, Imma change it and give them the happiest ending in the universe... le sigh I can't, I have like ten chapters planned HAH... **

**Thanks for reading... I'm sorry that this story won't exactly be happy from this point on... maybe a little bit here and there but, sorry not sorry in advance for all of you. See you guys later. **

**~Mar**


	104. Brother Vs Brother

Garmadon's hand gripped the doorframe, watching his beautiful wife sleep, not aware he was even watching her from a distance. She was so wonderful, she did everything she could to help him for over forty long years, she was his best friend, they did everything together, they went through everything thick and thin, no matter how painful the loss was or how low one could sink, they were right there, beside one another. She promised she would never leave him, he was going to hold her to that, tonight.

Down the hall lay his son, only about four and half years old, the most precious thing that he had been graced with in this world. After suffering the death of two children, he still had Lloyd. He intended to never let that boy go. He would do anything to ensure he would live the rest of his life with his wife and son, but there was a threat everywhere, just waiting to snatch one of them like it always had.

He walked down the steps, not even grabbing a jacket, he was dressed in his black ninja robes; he was going on a mission, one of his own he decided upon. He didn't take the car; he just walked the dimly lit streets by himself, no one around to watch him as he looked to the Mountain of Impossible Heights; the place he grew up, found love, lost and grieved so much, and made his own choice to defy his father and marry Misako.

Normally, people would grow tired climbing so many steps let alone walking miles to get to the monastery. There was a silent urging that drove Garmadon tonight though, a goal that he planned on going through with after a week of mentally preparing.

He remembered what it was like to have all the power of the sword of fire running through him, amplified by his rage to scorch all who dare to cross his path, he wanted to taste that glorious feeling again, he thought as he had sneaked inside undetected by his younger brother. He then looked at the others naturally, just thinking about controlling the other weapons as well, he was the first born of the First Master of Spinjitsu, he was graced with all the elements, maybe now he could get the chance to unlock that power too.

"Brother?"

He barely flinched when he heard the familiar word by an equally familiar voice. He looked over his shoulder, red eyes shining brighter with his dark glare at his younger brother.

"What… are you doing? No one is to remove them from their place… you know that…" Wu swallowed, starting to sweat, feeling his older brother's glare boring into his lighter colored eyes. He looked to the other's hand, gripped around the sword handle. He had woken up when he felt something was very wrong.

The brunette gave a smug look, pulling it down and examining it a bit anyways before looking back to his sibling who he knew was uncomfortable, "Tell me… _brother_… what good is a weapon if it's sitting on a rack, collecting dust? These were meant to change the world after all… what a waste… sitting here with you in a quiet and mundane life…" he quietly looked back down, remembering the good feeling of it in his grip.

Wu let out a short sigh, wondering if Misako even knew he was up here at this late hour, she probably didn't, it was two in the morning after all and she was most likely catching up on sleep for work the next day. "Garmadon, I know you miss using the sword… I miss the nunchucks as well and I'm certain Misako and Tanaka also miss the weapons, but father told us that-"

"FATHER WAS A FOOL!" Garmadon shouted to his sibling, furious just thinking about that pompous and controlling man, "He's been dead for five years Wu, are you still holding on to all of those ridiculous orders he always gave? When will you develop your own thoughts instead of obeying the orders of idiots?" he looked to the nunchucks next, smirking a bit, "Will you always be the good son? Perfect in his eyes even after his death? Unlike _me_!? The monster he made sure I always knew I was?!"

Wu held a hand out, the other gripping his staff, "Garmadon… I never thought that of you… I don't think father truly thought that either… please do not do whatever it is you are thinking… think about Misako and Lloyd… I do not want something to happen that we will both regret… I don't want to leave them without you…"

Garmadon laughed loudly, it was quite evident, his mind had finally snapped after years of torturous mental problems and stress he had tried so hard to endure and keep calm about. Wu could see he was breaking and busting at the seams more than ever what with the deranged look in his bright eyes. It reminded him of Sigan's eyes, cold and uncaring… demented.

"Something you'll regret? Really? No, you always thought you were better than me… daddy's precious angel… you took pride in obeying every one of his damn commands like you were some trained puppy! You say you wanted to help me, but you never really stood up for me like how Misako did! When mom died, you and dad practically forgot all about her! You didn't once care how that affected me… you wouldn't talk to me about it… but Misako did… she always was there when you should have been… you always said how we're brothers… how you would always have my back, but when did you ever truly have it Wu!?"

"I…" Wu just stared, mind going blank with his excuses and comebacks.

"Go ahead; think of some stupid ass excuse as to why you thought a few hugs could patch up our relationship… See this?" he lifted his left hand, sleeve falling to reveal two ugly looking puncture wounds that were still very visible after all these years, "Remember this _brother_?" the word was hate filled now, "You didn't want to walk out and just grow up and face that you couldn't hold that damn sword to dad… so I went out because I was trying to be the good one! I tried to help you! But that… _thing_… bit me! And look where we are… here I am, before you… about to punish you for what you did… and just think… I wouldn't be here doing this if it was for you…"

Wu gripped his staff in both hands, trying his best not to shake, but here it was at long last, his visions playing out in front of him. "I-I won't let you do this! I… if I have to end you I will… even if that means telling Misako and Lloyd what you turned into! Or how you died… trying to kill me and take over the world like you're some kind of god!" he seemed to threaten but his voice was wavering.

The older one smirked, grabbing the nunchucks, swirling them around, blue electricity was sparking around them, "Adorable… you also forgot I had beaten you in every match we ever dueled in, you were so weak… and you still are!" he flung a bolt of lightning at Wu who tried to absorb the hit. "Why shouldn't I be a god!? Why shouldn't I try and make this world better than anything that bastard could hope to create?!"

"But it's wrong! We're his students, we protect his ideals! No matter how we feel! That is the rule of the ninja! He was our sensei and you just want to ignore that he ever existed since he died!" Wu snapped. "Our father was wiser than you could ever hope to be! Why do you think you're so much smarter about this world than I am anyways?! I have the future sight dad!"

That made his brother's blood boil even more, "What have you truly lost Wu!? You think this world is perfect how it is and it's more ignorant than what I will ever be! You don't understand how screwed up this blasted world really is! Sigan killed my daughter! Ronin tried to hurt my wife and my baby boy, Samukai has wrecked this world so many times… Serpentine exist and bred a snake that turned me into this thing!" he stomped his foot. "Gahrann even tricked me into murdering my own friend in cold blood! How dare you think you can tell me this world is perfect the way it is! The only thing you truly lost was Misako's romantic feelings! And is like nothing compared to loss I endured!"

The younger quietly sighed before he charged forward, smacking his staff at Garmadon who was off his guard for a few moments, and he hit the rack, knocking the other weapons down, Wu looked at the fallen scythe and shurakins and let out another tired sigh when he saw the staff broke, he needed to do something. Grudgingly, he picked up the other two golden weapons just in time for the next attack to be thrown.

At this point, it was merely all for survival; he didn't want to fight Garmadon, even though the older was hell-bent on actually vaporizing him. Wu launched an attack with the scythe, it was not as controlled like how Misako would use it; his one handed grip was awkward and very much the opposite of graceful.

Both brothers were blasted through two walls though, both rolling out into the courtyard, the place they played and spared together and with friends, the place where their play fight changed their lives forever that led them to where they were right now; a fight to the death.

Wu's whole body ached after that, he had dropped the weapons and couldn't find the energy to get up, but Garmadon hadn't and was on his feet again in moments, further fueled by something dark and powerful festering in him for a little too long. He stalked over to his younger sibling, eyes brighter than they had ever been in the darkness.

He dropped the nunchucks, just raising the sword now, "I waited a very long time for this you know… I don't know why I never had the guts to just come here and do this…" he smirked wide, feeling the satisfaction of this moment, "Goodbye…" Wu looked up with wider eyes, "_brother_". He said in disdain once more.

Storm clouds had rolled in after the weapons briefly touched each other inside before they were flung through the walls. What Masuta had told them was true; should the weapons touch; a bit of paranormal activity like that would happen.

The moon peeked from behind the clouds at last and the golden kanjis on Wu's kimono glowed bright white just as the sword was coming down on him. The storm crackling above their heads grew more violent and Garmadon never expect the next thing to happen; a bolt of lightning flashed… and struck him.

He stalled; eyes so wide Wu was afraid they were going to pop out. His mouth was open in shock and probably pain as well as he felt it surge through his body which jolted when it happened to him. He stilled looked alive though he appeared to be something even more unnatural.

Wu saw his pale white skin turn black in the flash of light. The sword clanged on the stone ground as it was dropped, barely hearing his hiss of pain, if he really even felt that pain.

The bolt had also done something else; the kimonos the two wore did more than just look nice, the writing on them were banishing spells, meant to protect the brothers in their time of great need. Not only did it summon lightning for Wu, but it would open a portal to the Underworld temporarily. "That _bastard_," was the only thing that Garmadon could barely get out before he slipped back, trying to escape this fate.

"GARMADON!" Wu screamed, suddenly finding strength to lunge forward but his hand missed and he was out of reach. It felt like it was all in slow motion, seeing his brother vanish before his eyes. He could have screamed he was so terrified but no sound came out.

"I HATE YOU!"

The blonde trembled when the gaping hole vanished in another flash of light, the words of his brother echoing for several seconds afterwards and the sky cleared up overhead as if nothing ever happened.

He leaned forward on his hands and knees, hyperventilating, gagging until he eventually did throw up from such a traumatic event. "This… I… I…" he looked up at the now clear sky, eyes welling up as he saw the sun was rising now. "Brother…" he squeezed them, tears leaking down his cheeks, "What am I going to tell Misako!? What am I going to tell them both!?" he ran his hands through his thin hair, crying more.

**And this is why this story is over 100 chapters long... constant build up to very emotional fight right there... I had this planned for months tbh. I know added a lot of dialogue but I needed it way more dramatic than the four minute short video Lego released. **

**Hello everyone and welcome to Mean Mondays! Where I proceed to rip your heart out and give you feels for weeks to come. Thought you were feeling better over last update? Think again :D It all gets worse from here on... I have some... bad things begin to happen here... there will be some happy little moments... but this story only has about 10 chapters left... hopefully... I'm trying not to make it past 120 chapters but if needs to be, so be it owo **

**Ah... so finally... after 103 chapters... I finally did it... idk but this almost feels satisfying I managed to write out this argument... I enjoy argument writing, can you tell? Garmadon's dialogue came so naturally for this it was almost unreal... but as usual, like I always say, a piece of myself is always written into him.**

**So thanks for reading this super long story, and props to anyone who read over 100 chapters to catch up to where we are now! I really appreciate your views, follows, faves, and comments (::)(::) See ya later!**

**~Mar**


	105. King of Shadows

Garmadon just lay where he had fallen for a few minutes; staring into the blackness that closed up above him. This was a whole new experience; he could see everything, the deepest reaches of the dark, one thing he could never fully do, even with the power of shadow.

His chest hurt when he tried to breathe now, being struck by lightning will do that to you after all. He sat up at last, wiping his burning eyes.

So many things ran through his head: He was stuck here, in the Underworld, put there by his father's spell on his brother's robes for starters, and dragged away from the world he always knew. _"That… that bastard… they were different spells on both our robes… Wu's was one that would banish me here! Of course he would give Wu that one!" _he sat up, slamming a fist into the ground, filled with rage once more.

It then hit him; he had _lost_ the fight, he was stuck here, for real, this wasn't a dream. Misako was now all alone at home; she would never know what he was going to do, he never told her, Lloyd as well, even if Misako found out, what would she tell him? That his father really was a monster?! She would wake up to find he would never come home and see his family again. Surely she would just try to forget about him after Wu would tell her what happened.

He covered his face, not knowing how to feel, until the strong feelings of hatred came back up and he looked upward again at the darkness, "THIS ISN'T OVER WU! I WILL BE BACK! THEN YOU WILL BOW TO ME! THIS ISN'T GONNA STOP ME ONE BIT!" he wagged a fist in the air angrily. "YOU ALL WILL REGRET THIS!"

He quickly turned around but was almost startled when he saw Samukai's men crowding around him, some murming and chuckles came from the underlings, the hulking, four-armed general walking through, smirking wide, "Well look what we have here boys… What sorry idiot managed to get cursed down here this time?"

It seemed they didn't recognize him at all.

"Shut up you freaking bag of bones; we have nothing to say to each other after everything you've done to my family!" Garmadon snapped, ready to give a beat down to someone and completely blowing over the fact Samukai was unaware of his change in his appearance.

"Garmadon!?" Samukai blinked for a minute or two before laughing loudly with his gravelly voice, "Well this is just too good! You ended up here? With the very things you despised so… I thought you were a good guy… shame, because this still won't change a thing," he chuckled, stepping up more, "Throw him in a cell boys!"

"Like I would allow you to do such a thing," Garmadon straightened up, narrowing his glowing eyes which made the other Skulkin stop in their tracks. He wasn't in the least bit intimidated by him even without a weapon, "If you think you're so mighty and powerful here still… fight me… and if I win… I'm your king and you do everything that I command… because I refuse to be some slave".

"And if you lose…" Samukai leaned forward a bit, "I'll do whatever I feel like to you".

"Well then… you will be quite disappointed," the new villain landed a surprise punch before Samukai could grab his sword. The general of the Underworld growled, charging forward when he moved back to avoid the swipe of his boney claws. Garmadon smirked though, cracking his knuckles, knowing there was still one thing he could manage to do in this cursed body.

His purple Spinjitsu slammed Samukai back against the nearest wall, the "crown" of the Underworld, fallen from his head with a loud clanging noise. The new, evil man bent over and picked the helmet up; examining it before putting it on his own head, folding his arms, "Looks like you have a new leader…" he smirked.

The other Skulkin bowed to him quickly out of pure fear that their champion had been defeated so quickly, Samukai just glared until eventually, he bowed as well. "All hail Lord Garmadon…" he sighed, "King of Shadows… Ruler of the Underworld…"

Garmadon gave a cocky laugh, after so long, the thing hated most was under his foot and his to order around as he pleased. This army of fools that tried to cross him one too many times was going to do as he says and he could torture them all he wanted. He stepped over, bending to seeing Samukai eye to eye, "If you don't think I'm going to make this place a true hell… you better think again, you're all mine now".

The Skulkin glared back with a deep look of pure hatred. "This isn't over you pathetic excuse of a leader… you think because of a little lightning you're like us… you're still a soft and pathetic fool I'm sure…"

* * *

><p>Misako looked out the window with a frown; it looked like it was about to rain again today. She went downstairs to find only Lloyd sitting on the couch, watching cartoons with Nina in his lap, sleeping. He looked at her and smiled, "Mornin mama!" he waved as the cat perked up at the sudden greeting.<p>

"Morning sweetie… Where's… daddy?" Misako blinked, wondering why her husband was strangely missing from their entire house.

Lloyd shrugged his shoulders a bit, "I didn't see him since he said goodnight… can I have cereal please?" He didn't seem to find this strange, unlike her.

His mother nodded but what was on her mind was how she tried to rationalize this situation, Garmadon normally slept in this late unless she would wake him, it would be odd if he got up so early on his own like this. She shook her head and went into the kitchen but stopped herself, "His side of the bed was still made up… wasn't it? And today's Monday… he doesn't go in to help Kasai take care of the old tavern they keep on weekdays…" he mumbled to herself. "Where the hell did he go then…?"

She continued her wondering as she poured the dried cheerios for her son, turning to get the milk with her other hand when the phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and saw Wu was the one calling this early. She cautiously took the phone, half seeming to know that that was where her husband had gone. Wu was probably just calling, knowing she would be wondering this.

"Morning Wu… hey, did Garmadon go over there this morning? It was almost looking like he never even came to bed last night," she yawned, leaning against the counter.

Wu didn't say anything to her right away, he had been planning what he was going to say all night, but when he did, he panicked, "Garmadon came here last night and tried to kill me and now he's gone and I'm really sorry!" The blonde couldn't bear to hear her reaction so he just abruptly hung up on her.

Misako was frozen where she was, except her hand which went limp. "Wu?!" she shouted into the phone but received the dial tone. "WU!? WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S GONE?!" she started choking on her words, running her now free hand through her hair.

Lloyd and Nina came running into the kitchen to see what was wrong with her why there was a loud clanging noise. "Mama?" he swallowed, looking up at her and seeing the phone in hand. "Who that?"

She couldn't tell Lloyd his father was gone. What did that even mean; 'gone'? She wished she could throw Wu through a wall for doing something like that to her. This was her husband; he couldn't just say something like that and hang up! Joke or not, it would have been a very cruel one.

The mother just squeezed her eyes shut, "prank caller is all… and I got mad…" she looked down at the mess on the floor, "and the silly bowl slipped out of my hand".

It was a miracle that she could keep such a calm looking face on for her son. She was crumbling on the inside though. Just last night she had kissed him before going to bed, hearing the familiar 'I'll be up in a little bit' from him. Wu meant to tell her he never went to bed? He just went right over there to try and kill Wu? What the hell even sparked that in Garmadon!? He just suddenly decided to kill his brother that night? If it were true, she knew there was a whole other side to the story as to why he would even do that.

"Go back to the TV room… I'll clean this up and bring your breakfast to you…" she placed a hand on his head. Lloyd happily went but Nina sat, staring up at her, seeing through the lies right away. "Nina… shoo…" when that didn't work she crouched down, "I need you to take care of Lloyd right now… when I tell him… whatever the truth ends up being… I need you to help me… okay?"

The black cat lowered her head, whining a bit and crawling into Misako's arms. "I'm sorry… I know you loved him too… like the rest of us… and he cared about you too…" she closed her eyes, trying not to cry right now. Suddenly everything she looked at brought back some silly memory of him. She prayed he wasn't dead, "Maybe Wu just meant that he ran away… maybe Wu managed to just injure him and chased him away… yea… Wu couldn't kill him…"

She mumbled while bringing the bowl of cereal out to her toddler not long later. Nina was being awfully affectionate with him now since she spoke to her. There was a knock at the door soon after, so the small woman answered, startled to see her brother in-law there. He looked terrified at her. "Can I please come in?" he looked down.

Misako stepped to the side and he entered in the main hall, but not letting him in any more than that, blocking his path. "I'm sorry for calling you up like that… but he is gone… I watched him fall…" She wasn't understanding. "Garmadon came in the middle of the night and tried to steal the weapons… when I tried to talk to him he turned on me… it was like I didn't even know him at all… he started bringing up all these things from the past… then he tried to attack me… I fought back but right when was about to bring the sword down on my head… it finally lit up…" he looked at the faded gold kanjis "…and my brother fell…"

"He's… dead?" she held her hands to her chest.

"Well I could still hear his final words to me… 'I hate you'… he's in the Underworld Misako so, I guess he's still alive, but… he's… nothing like how you knew him… he… he's…" he couldn't continue as his blue eyes started watering over. "If-… I know you loved him… but I don't think he loves anyone anymore… not you… or even Lloyd…"

That was like stabbing her heart out, "Shut up! You don't know anything about him other than what you wanted to see in him… the venom… and he was so much more than that… I know you cared about him somewhat… but I don't think you ever showed it enough if you really did…"

"That was my father… not me!" he insisted.

"But you could have done something more… you didn't defend him to your father to treat him better… I did… you like being the favorite… didn't you!?" she withdrew more from the blonde who was just trying to reach out. "Just go away!" she loudly said. "I know what you're gonna offer Wu… and no… I don't love you like that… I don't care what will happen, I'm gonna make this work on my own… I'm gonna bring Garmadon back and you're not going to try and stop me from seeing him again… I don't care how you feel about me… as long as he's alive; I'm married to him… I don't want your help! Good bye Wu!"

He had backed out of the door just in time for her slam and lock it. He was shocked at her reaction. Her words stung, he knew she was playing a dangerous game if she was going to help Garmadon like what she said. "For once… you're the fool Misako… wait till everyone else hears about this…" he lowered his head, shaking it. "Maybe Kasai and Namiko can talk some sense into her for me… she won't talk to me anymore it seems…"

The younger man started walking down the street, back home to be forever reminded of the horrible things that happened there. Every argument, every fight, everything was coming back, even from the deepest reaches of his thoughts and memories, from when he was even a toddler and they would have the occasion argument. He looked up at the gray sky and wondered why this was happening to them.

As he was walking, he felt an odd sensation, like he was being watched by a predator, so he turned around to make sure no one was following him. Nothing looked out of the ordinary but then he saw the shadow of a man who wasn't there against a wall along the sidewalk. It felt like it was staring at him and he swallowed hard.

"So you thought you could turn her against me and take her for yourself? Both of them!?" it asked, angrily. "You dare try to take my Misako from me? Haven't you done enough to betray me Wu!?"

Wu stared more, barely breathing, "… G-Garmadon? I… you're supposed to be locked up, Samukai was… what… are you… doing here?" was all he managed to get out. He was feeling even sicker to his stomach after the conversation with Misako earlier.

The shadow of his brother laughed loudly, "When you beat Samukai in a fight… you don't get locked up… You're newest enemy is the King of Shadows now… _Wu_." He wasn't even using brother anymore it seemed, why would he after last night?

"Y-you beat him!?" Wu's mouth hung open a bit.

"I rule the Underworld now… and I will come back… I will come for you Wu… and I'll take my wife and son back where they belong… with me… and I will get those weapons… the world is going to me _mine_. Do you understand this? I will remake this pathetic world our father made to govern… and I will make it better than what he or you could have ever imagined… It will be in my image and everyone who ever dared to cross me will be gone!"

Wu wanted to warn Misako of this so badly, but she wasn't going to listen now more than ever. She never did and this was all happening so fast now. Wu was frozen where he was standing, even after the shadow was gone; only one thing on his mind.

His brother was a monster.

**And once more I took some creative liberties... but who cares? Not me :D Kasai and Namiko will be returning next chapter... or, Kas will anyways. I'm sorry, not sorry in advance for all the pain I'll be inflicting on people... fictional or real if you actually feel things for this story... There may be another late next update depending just to let you know...  
><strong>

**See you guys later though, thanks for reading.**


	106. What are Friends For?

Misako came back inside the living room, sitting next to her son who had overheard the conversion somewhat and it didn't sound like a very nice one at that. She swallowed; he would have to know about this sooner or later. The mother caressed his head, pulling him into his arms; this was going to be very hard.

He looked to be done with his cheerios, or at least couldn't stomach finishing them as he hugged Nina closer. "Mama?" he looked up but she had buried her face in his soft hair, trying so hard not to cry as she turned the TV off.

"I'm so sorry if you heard me talking… harshly to uncle Wu… I just… I'm sorry but… daddy's… he's okay… I promise he is… but he can't come home anytime soon I'm afraid…" Lloyd didn't say anything, he stared blankly, "Don't worry… because he'll come back… he always comes back… I've known him a long time… he always does…"

She sniffed and started crying more when her son turned around and hugged her as tight as his little arms could. "Why you yell at uncle Wu though? I thought you liked each other too…" he quietly asked, remembering how sad he sounded and how angry his mother must have felt.

"Because… he… meant well… but ultimately… he's the reason why daddy had to leave us for now…" she mumbled and looked at a clock on the wall, sighing loudly, she may have been angry with her brother in-law but she didn't feel it was right to have Lloyd hate him… then again… he really did contributed to the reason her husband was lost…

"I… go upstairs and get dressed… I'll be up in a minute to help you; you'll have to come to work with me until I can arrange something better, it'll be fun… b-but I swear on my life… I will take care of you myself… for… for as long as I need to… I love you Lloyd…"

"Kay… I love you too mama," he was released at last and waddled up the steps, Nina following right behind him like a little guardian.

Misako wiped her bloodshot eyes, shaking her head more. She didn't want to work, she wanted to throw up, maybe cry like she was the baby, not her son who was handling this far better she could have ever possibly hoped for. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the mail slot open, bringing her out of her thoughts again.

"Ugh… of course…" she croaked, sitting down to quickly go through everything. "Bill… bill… flyers-" she abruptly stopped when she came to very important looking envelope… from the bank. She always received something around this time of the month, but this time, it looked… different.

She tore it open quickly and sloppily because she knew it would be in regards to the house… the house that she bought with Garmadon almost twenty five years ago and was currently living in right now.

The green eyed ninja just started shaking her head quietly, "No no no…" she whispered before getting to her feet, "Lloyd!" she shouted, "We need to leave earlier!" she ran up the stairs, "Mama's got business to handle at the bank…" she growled, more upset with how her day was going.

* * *

><p>The bright green eyes of Misako Garmadon glared to the man across the table from her. He almost seemed unnerved, but he knew who she was well enough, and if the stories were true, she could kill a man with a wave of her hand, yet he managed to keep a straight face with her and not allow her to know that.<p>

"I'm sor- I'm sorry but what is the problem here? You never had an issue with us before… and suddenly you barge in, demanding that I speak with you about your property?" he cleared his throat after it cracked at the start of the sentence.

"I have six years left on this house and you decide it's worth more all of sudden… and not only that but the monthly payments are even more?!" she clenched her teeth together, throat begging to curse at him but young Lloyd was in the chair next to her, barely understanding what was going on here. "Do you know who the hell I am?!"

"Of course we all do you-"

"I saved your… necks… this city's neck a million times, recovered things you invested in like the museum and you think I'm just going to accept this bull crap from you!?" she slapped the bill in front of him on the desk. "I don't make enough for this!"

"Well, it's not abnormal for both parents to work… Maybe your lazy husband should just get a job too then-"

That did for her. Misako stood up, leaning on the desk, "My husband isn't here anymore! He isn't lazy he was hardest working man I ever knew… and he… he just…" she closed her eyes, skin burning as he face turned red again. "Change this". She opened her eyes again, mustering up a death glare.

The bank president shrugged a bit, "I can't… you can't make the payments you're already two months behind in? Move out and be done with it". He coldly told her. "You have two weeks to move before we try to sell it to someone else and that is my final word on this matter".

That response took her off guard. It just sounded… so cold.

"I know who you are… I know what you do and I respect you and your friends for constantly throwing your lives away so recklessly… but we are not changing anything… now…" he pushed his chair back and stood up, "If you excuse me… I have better things to do than to deal with… this…" he fixed his shirt cuffs and turned his back on her and her son.

The mother looked to Lloyd who looked up at her as well. "I'm sorry Lloyd…" she picked him up, cuddling him close to her chest. "Day one of being on my own and I'm doing a horrible job of taking care of you… aren't I?" she wanted to cry even more but he just leaned his head on her shoulder, patting the other one reassuringly. "C-come on… I'll be late as it is…" she hurried out with him.

* * *

><p>Once inside the back offices, Misako set Lloyd down who ran off to find something to do to pass the time away. Sonia and Daniel were the first to come over with wide smirks on their faces, oblivious to her own pale and tired looking face, "Hey! Late much? Next time one of us is late, we don't wanna hear it-"<p>

Misako had given up all restraint and fell forward into them, crying. They quickly stopped talking and helped her sit down as she held her face, breaking down at long last. It took a while, but she managed to explain everything that took place that morning.

"You poor thing…" Sonia rubbed her back, looking at her own husband play with one of Lloyd's toy cars with him. "Oh gosh… losing Garmadon, and Wu, and the house all in the same morning? And it's not like Wu made things any better… geez… how insensitive of him to just call you like that and hang up right away!? Does he not know how to break something like that to people!?" she shook her head, running a hand through her chestnut hair. "He was always awkward like that, wasn't he?"

The older woman just shrugged a bit, leaning forward on the desk, grabbing more tissues. "I don't know what I'm gonna do! I don't know what I can do! I… I can't do this without him… he's the one that Lloyd is more accustomed to caring for him… how the hell am I gonna manage a full time job and him and looking for a new house or… I'm so lost Sonia, what am I gonna do!? Lloyd looks like he's handling this well but he's quiet with stuff like this and I know it when he hugs me that's scared…"

The darker skinned woman bit her lip, "Oh honey… I… maybe you should… well, talk to Mr. Wilson… I'm sure he would help, you two have known each other before he was even the head director… he got you this job… maybe he'll understand and help you…" she tried reasoning.

"I could never…" the darker brunette sat up. "He did too much already with giving me time off and stuff since Lloyd was born… I couldn't ask for a raise now… oh… and not to mention how the hell am I going to find a place to live in less than two weeks?"

"Hey… you know, the apartment next to mine just opened! It's not a lot, the payments are pretty cheap and it's four rooms, plenty of space for you two… and we could be neighbors and come over whenever you need help and it'll be great!" Sonia started smiling, thinking of this. She saw her friend shake her head more, "Oh come on! Why the hell do you have friends if you're gonna do nothing but ignore our help!?"

"Because this… my whole world is falling apart and…" she sniffed, shaking her head, "do you even know how many friends I dragged down!? So many people… Ella and Rose for starters dead in action… I've lost people because of this life… and if you get involved you and Daniel and Dana will eventually get hurt too at some point… I just know it…"

The door suddenly flew open and someone grabbed hold of her, wrapping his arms in a big hug. When Misako sniffed, she recognized the smell well, ashes, smoke, and burning metal. "Wu called Namiko and she called me and I'm so sorry…" Kasai murmured to her just loud enough for her to hear. It sounded like he was going to cry too, "I abandoned my work and came over as soon as she told me… and I knew you'd be here when you weren't picking up the home phone…"

"Kas…" she buried her face in his shoulder, having no one else to lean on at the moment. "I'm sorry you worried and dropped everything you were doing just to see if I was okay in person… this is my problem-" she apologized.

"Shut up!" he pulled away, "Misako, I… we grew up together since we were little! Why wouldn't I rush over the moment something happened to you and your family!? We _are_ family! If you ever need someplace to go… stay with us… or… please, I know you're gonna say no, but you need help whether you will ever admit to it or not and we have the room and the money I promise! I know you're the leader… but even leaders need help… I'm sure Garmadon told you that plenty of times…"

The earth ninja looked at two of her best friends left in the world, feeling her eyes begin to water again. She blew her nose and shook her head, "Well… what the hell am I gonna do with you guys…?" she tried to smile at their kindness. It was hard, but she managed to give a wobbly smile. "Thanks… a lot… really…"

"Like we said… no problem…" Kasai swallowed, hugging her a second time. "Namiko has been feeling much better, she wants to help you move out if you need to and… really we'll do anything to help you guys…"

"Well…" the smaller woman hugged herself, "I need to stay in the city because of work so staying all the way in Ignacia is out of the question as of now…" she tiredly sighed again, "I guess I'll have to move in to that apartment then…"

Sonia practically squealed and hugged her too, "I promise, anything you need, we'll be right there to help you out!" she nodded. "And seriously… anything, I mean it now! You hear me?!"

Misako just closed her eyes, enjoying the hugs. It felt like a lifetime since she hugged Garmadon, though it was only last night they had seen each other, amazing how things can literally change overnight like that huh? _"Garmadon… I wonder what you're up to… if you still think about me now… I hope you do… because I miss you so much already…"_

**Le gasp, an update in the middle of the week? Only right since you guys waited over two weeks for this! I was so mad when I was out of commission for the most part and had at least four emotional breakdowns... it's fun to be me, I promise. **

**So I'm almost done with the next one, I wanted to get it up at least by Saturday, maybe even Friday, let's see how that goes but the story seems to be writing itself as of right now... let's hope it keeps up like that... as a teaser I shall tell you the chapter title: When Death Came a Knockin'**

**Can you guess what happens? A bottle of feels, that's what. This story gets harder and harder for me write... I promise, by next week, I should have finished the last shorts of the Teenager Adventures series... I need to write more comedies instead of the long, epic, tragic adventures... like geez... maybe some more fluffy 100 theme prompts... gaah I have so much to get caught up on...**

**Well, I'm gonna go burn myself out writing a bunch of stuff tonight and I hope you enjoyed the long awaited update! Again, thanks for your patience and I'll see you guys later this week for sure! :D **

**~Mar**


	107. When Death Came a Knockin'

Garmadon lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. He was a king at last… but there was a trade off naturally… "Mimi…" he turned on his side, squeezing his eyes shut and covered his face with his hand, "My Misako… my Lloyd…" he murmured to himself. "I swear on my life… I'm going to find you and everything will be better for all three of us… I hope you don't believe whatever twisted shit Wu probably told you… "

He couldn't stop thinking about every possible reaction to seeing him like this, in this dark and hideous form. His heart ached for hers and Lloyd's hugs and affection all the same though. The dark lord almost started to feel regret of what he did that night and it was making him sick to his stomach about everything he should have done.

"No… I… this is good… they'll just come and stay with me and… and then… we'll be happy here… in a place I can control and rule… and then we'll rule this world together when I find a way to get my physical form back above… Lloyd will like that… it will be perfect… everything will be fine…"

He could only exist as a shadow in the world above the Underworld, a reflection of what his destiny truly was when the snake bit him. No normal person who went about their life would ever recognize his form moving along walls and sidewalks; he could pass by pretty much unnoticed.

What he wanted was to confront his wife at last, like what he had constantly been promising himself for the past weeks. He was afraid- no… better yet, he was truly terrified of her screaming and shouting at him for doing such a thing. He knew she had turned his brother away, or that's what he assumed by how he found Wu that morning, but there was still his fear of the unknown.

"Please don't be angry with me my love…" he quietly said to himself, looking up at the sky in which the sun was setting. His shadow stopped when he looked upon the familiar house he lived in for just a little more than half his life. "What?" he then felt like he was going to throw up.

She wouldn't be there, it was obvious. Not with that 'For Sale' sign on the front lawn, vacant of anyone living there now. How was he going to find her now!?

He stopped himself and realized the time it must have been. _"The museum closing in a few minutes I think…"_ he decided that's where he would find his wife and maybe his son as well.

The dark lord stayed inside the shadows so Misako couldn't possibly see him if she was passing by that way. He then heard her familiar voice as doors swung open.

* * *

><p>"Thank you so much again for helping us move everything over the past few days… you sure it's okay to have some of the stuff your storage unit that we couldn't sell or fit in the apartment?" the older woman carrying a sleeping toddler was walking out the front doors with her friends.<p>

"Yea, we have hardly anything in there, it'll be fine, I promise," Sonia assured.

"What!?" Garmadon whispered in surprise, there were those horrible feelings all over again. "No no…" he shook his head. "This can't be right… she moved!?"

"Sometimes I… I just want to die… you wouldn't believe how many times I thought that over the past weeks…" Misako admitted to Sonia, stopping at the curb in front of the car. "It's funny how I was always trying to help him through those feelings… now… he left me… with no help to get through my own…"

"No…" Garmadon shook his head. "Mimi I'm here… I'm sorry…" he whispered. She was unintentionally stabbing his right in the heart.

"I… well I don't know him like you do… maybe he's feeling the same thing now… I'm also sure he feels pretty alone himself… you two need each other… you get along better than most couples I know… sometimes, even better than Danny and I…" Sonia side hugged her friend. "I'll see you back at the apartment… come over for dinner if you like…"

Misako put Lloyd in his car seat, careful not to wake him up, "This will be the fourth night in a row…" she quietly stated. "I don't know… I'm not very hungry tonight Sonny… maybe tomorrow we'll come over…" she stood back up to get into the driver's side.

"Okay… call if you need anything. I gotta pick Dana up from her friend's house and do some shopping, see ya later," the brown eyed girl waved before walking down the block to get to her own car.

Garmadon looked down, "Guess I better see just what happened to her…" he breathed.

* * *

><p>Misako set Lloyd down on the couch, letting him sleep on while she found something to busy herself with, in the corner of the room, her husband watched her just stand there for a minute, cover her face and shaking her head again. She quickly turned to the house phone where she found a couple message was left for her. She played them.<p>

_"Hey Mimi! It's Namiko, haven't heard from you in a couple of days, figured you were busy with the move and stuff, but we're all planning on stopping by tomorrow since we know it's your day off! Call back if it's not good or something or you made other plans! Love you sweetie and see you tomorrow hopefully!"_

She smiled a bit after hearing the message. It would be nice to have some friends over maybe for a change. Her good feeling was gone though when she played the other one though.

_"I see you blocked me on your cell phone… I managed to get this new number from Kasai… he was against it… but… I'm sorry Misako. I really am. I miss you so much, I miss seeing Lloyd too. Everyone is practically vanishing off the map for me… Anthony moved apparently because of matters with his wife's side, Crevan has been really busy with his problems in his town and can't get away anymore, I rarely hear from Tana anymore too what with the horrible phone connection you get up north… and Kas and Nami are even growing a bit distant since I told them what happened…"_

Misako was ready to not let it finish and just delete it but it quickly continued after the short pause.

_"But really, there's not a day that goes by without me wanting to puke from this whole mess… I'm not ever going to say I told you so again… it's not fair to you, even if I was right about my brother. Maybe there was more I could have done, like you said. But you are literally the only family I have left, I know there's Diella but I think she knows what happened and is staying away..."_

She almost felt really bad over that, she was the last blood family Wu and Garmadon had in the world, that they knew about anyways.

_"Same goes for you too you know; just me, you, and Lloyd really. I hope you would reconsider staying here… it would be cheaper… I know your job though, you'll try to engulf yourself with that… I just… I hope you'll talk to me again one day… you know where to find me I guess if you ever needed help… I'm sorry…" _

She thought that was the end but apparently it was just a long, silent moment of breathing.

_"I… I love you…"_

The dial tone sounded and she just stood there, staring at the speaker and shaking even more. Garmadon didn't even realize he was holding his breath as he watched how she would react to that message from his brother.

She seemed stone-faced to it. "Kas… why the hell did you let Wu take this number?! That's why I changed it!" she angrily whispered. "He would find me eventually I guess…" she swallowed, shaking her head, "Forty one years I've known you… we had our fights and we made up… but this…" she probably always knew he loved her beyond a sibling like bond, but now he would admit it?! She couldn't even entertain such a though now.

Misako ran into her room, practically screaming into a pillow as was her normal stress reliever these days instead of something nicer. Garmadon followed her as well into the room. "Leave me alone… just… why won't he leave me alone now!?" she hugged the pillow closer and he stopped moving, thinking she knew he was there. "I want Garmadon… give him back… why did you take him away from me!? Garmadon… I miss you… I love you…"

He loosened up a bit when he realized she was talking to his brother and maybe his father, both of which were not there with them.

"I love you too…" he covered his mouth as soon as the words slipped out of habit.

She sat up in bed quickly, looking around like a scared animal, knowing she heard his voice come from somewhere close by. He was still hiding, so of course she couldn't see him. "Who the hell's there?! How'd you get in!?" she demanded. Along the wall she saw him step out. "I… where are you?"

"This is what I am when I'm on earth now… the shadow is all you get…" he sighed. She was silent, not making any movements. "Oh Mimi… my sweet love…" he sounded like he was going to cry too now. "I want to just hug you right now; everything's such a mess… looks like I'm not the only one who's on the brink of a breakdown…"

The green eyed woman got to her feet, walking to the wall, "Where have you been all this time!? For a while I thought you really were dead and Wu was just lying to me!" she shouted.

"I was terrified of what you would think of me… I wondered if you would have agreed with him that I really was just a horrifying monster… I put this off for two weeks… but I just… it was too long, I needed to see you…" he swallowed. "If you want to see me too… go to the Fire Temple tonight… I'll remove the sentries… and… take Lloyd… please…"

She remembered the Fire Temple, home to the ancient masters of fire, Kasai's long gone ancestors. She was dragged through it years back when Samukai had her kidnapped when Lloyd was still just a baby. Her husband vanished again as quickly as he appeared and she ran out to see Lloyd just starting to wake up.

Misako wiped her eyes, thinking of the best choice for this situation…

* * *

><p>"Now remember, keep quiet… I don't know if this is some… weird set up thing…" Misako hushed her son who was not exactly loving the cold, damp tunnels that led into the Underworld. He had no right to ever experience the nasty places she grew up exploring or the wars she fought in. Hers and Garmadon's world was not fit for him; ever.<p>

"I promise I'll protect you if something was to happen here… we should be fine though… I don't think… he would be so mean as to do that…" the mother swallowed, trying to believe that herself, she had just seen his shadow, talked with in for what? Two minutes, it wasn't enough time to tell for sure what was happening to him. If he was the same, then he must really hate being trapped down here.

At last she found her way into the throne room; it was dimly lit except for a few blue and purple flames by the throne itself which was how it normally looked. Lloyd whimpered just a bit when he saw the protruding bone structures around the steps up to and the throne itself.

Misako kept silent though, waiting for something to happen.

"Mimi!" she jumped when she heard the voice and saw a dark figure come out quickly, glowing white marks and bright, red eyes that she of course knew so well. "And Lloyd…" he slowed down a bit when they both were staring at him. "I…" he swallowed, smile fading.

"So this… this is you now…" she whispered, she didn't look happy, but she didn't quite seem horrified either, just... blank.

He just nodded a bit. Lloyd seemed to not care in the slightest and recognized this man as his father all the same, wriggling out of his mother's arms and straight to Garmadon. He looked like he was going to cry at the way his son was holding on for dear life. "Daddy? Is it you? Really?"

"Yes… oh yes… forgive me… forgive me Lloyd for going away without saying goodbye at least," the dark lord's voice crack as he held on tighter to the four year old. "My sweet little boy…" he breathed, kissing his head and resting his cheek on his soft, blonde hair. "I thought about you every day… and your mama too…" he murmured, rocking the little boy more.

Misako's eyes were watering over again. If Lloyd didn't care, maybe she shouldn't either, so she walked over to him. He looked down at her before she slammed her body against his in a forceful hug that almost made him fall over. He then wrapped an arm around her smaller body. He finally found the strength to pick her up as well.

"I'm sorry…" he started crying. "I'm so sorry… I'm a horrible creature… I always was… I just now have the appearance to match it I guess…"

"I missed you… you… you have no idea what happed to me the morning after you left…" Misako started crying more now.

"I saw the for sale sign…" he sniffed, kissing her forehead. "This is all my fault…"

"No… I didn't move because of you…" she hiccupped, "The bank changed everything on me and… it was like they didn't even care when I went in to talk about it… I felt so alone… and scared… you have no idea, he only gave me two weeks to move and if it wasn't for Kasai and Sonia, I don't know what would have happened to us… all I know is that I couldn't ever go back to the monastery… not after everything that ever happened to us…"

Garmadon looked around, wondering if Samukai or any of the Skulkin that was still rather loyal to him were lurking around; ready to somehow use this as a way to convince others he was too soft to be their leader despite winning the fight with Samukai.

He carried both down another hallway, going into another room. "Sorry… I thought we should be somewhere more… private…" he mumbled when he set Lloyd down on the bed. "You wouldn't believe what the stupid Skulkin do if they ended up seeing you two…"

"Right…" Misako looked away from him. "How does it feel to lead the very monsters that kidnapped me and tried to kill me… several times…?" it was half asked out of curiosity, but it was also kind of a stab at him seeming to enjoy being a ruler at long last. She knew that deep down he wanted something like this, but not in a dark and unforgiving realm full of creatures.

"It's very lonely…" he answered innocently. She looked over her shoulder to see him sitting with Lloyd on his lap. "I always felt lonely… but nothing like this… I almost want to see other living humans again… I need to get out of here Misako…" he held a hand to her face. "Please; you must know some way to get me out of here…"

"And what would you do if I did get you out of here? Is this why you wanted to see me? Just to use my knowledge to let you out?" she swallowed, mind reeling after two weeks of being left to ask for the help of her friends."Then you drop me and Lloyd to go take over the world?"

Her husband just stared at her, he didn't look angry with the fact she said that, he looked hurt and betrayed. The dark man looked away quickly so she couldn't see his eyes watering too now. Lloyd just looked confused and maybe a bit sleepy, it was getting pretty late and all his energy was exhausted over the excitement of seeing his father again.

"I'm sorry… I just…" she shook her head, taking her glasses off. "I've been through a lot the past two weeks…"

"I know… and I don't blame you for thinking that… maybe I would think the same if this situation was completely reversed…" he was still turned away though, mindlessly holding onto Lloyd tighter. "After everything I've done? I just… you'll think I'm crazy but I miss the light of day… we don't get that down here believe it or not…"

He then felt her hug his arm, head resting on his shoulder. He looked down again and smiled, Lloyd had fallen right to sleep in his arms. "Do you mind if I talk to you somewhere else where he won't be able to wake up?"

She nodded and they set Lloyd down on the bed, wrapping a blanket around him and they walked into a joint room. He closed the door and quickly walked up to her, arms around her waist, pulling her into a long, deep, and very needy kiss. "I wanted to do that for so long…" he heavily breathed when they came up for air at last.

Misako just responded to that with another kiss, hands running through his dark hair, sloppily kissing each other with more aggression. "I cried myself to sleep every night when Lloyd would go to bed…" she admitted; squeezing her eyes shut. "The bed is so empty… even with Lloyd there next to me…" she gripped his shoulders tighter.

"Stay here… with me…" he breathed. "We… we'll be together… like how it should be… no one will dare try to split us apart again… I… I want you to be my queen… I… I can change the world like how I always wished it was… safe for you and Lloyd… that's all I ever want… help me rid the world of the self-righteous thinking and ways of my dad and brother…"

**Yaaaay, I finished this one. It's rare I make a chapter over 3,000 words... geez...sorry I ended on a cliffhanger like that... oh wait, no I'm not hahaha  
><strong>

**I'm gonna have a whole chapter with Wu with hopefully some development... and... maybe Misako and a certain prophecy to solve... hehehe... hehe... he...  
><strong>

**So yea, Happy Halloween my friends, I hope you enjoyed this update :3 Monday will hold a new chapter I hope :D Thanks for reading and have an awesome day!**

**~Mar**


	108. Stay With Me

She stared at him. This was a familiar conversation she knew Wu had brought up weeks ago… or at least tried to

_"Stay with me…"_

She loved her husband, more than most people could ever know or understand. He was quiet, cut off from more people, troubled, easily enraged but loving, and very passionate about everything he believed in, much like with her. He lived the shadows but tried so hard to push through it, to be gentle only to her and eventually, Lloyd as well.

She loved Wu and maybe she never even realized that in the beginning; he was kind and quiet as well, too quiet though. Maybe self righteous, and ignorant quite to that fact, but he tried as well to be understanding and was certainly just trying to help people. In the end, maybe things would have been better if she married him like what she _knew_ Masuta wanted…

But she made her choice and she wouldn't dare backpedal on that, not when she and Garmadon went through so much together, emotionally especially. She saw he cared about her too much just for her to simply be friends with him even from an early age, their own mother saw that she had a strong bond with Garmadon.

Her husband's glowing red eyes looked at her, pleading for her to stay down here with him. It was a nice little thought, a lovely dream to have forever, never be apart again... They both wanted this… but this was so unrealistic it was laughable. He wasn't meant to be this, and she couldn't conform to this.

He could see it in her eyes she was going to say no to him. He kept silent though and just closed his eyes, doing his best not to squeeze her hands too tight or to cry, he didn't want her to possibly stay out of guilt.

"I want to so badly… b-but I can't… I have Lloyd and… he shouldn't stay down here either… it's too dark and… well, dangerous…" she finally whispered. "Garmadon?" her voice was cracking as she wiped her eyes again, this was turning out to be far too much for her to handle. She thought this could comfort her a little bit to see him again, but this was just making things way harder. "Please say something…"

"Tonight… I… I at least one night…" he breathed, nose to nose with her. "I want to get my last night with you… I'm… I'm sorry I never came to bed…" he sniffed. "If I just went upstairs with you… maybe… maybe I wouldn't have run off and…"

Misako hugged him suddenly, kissing his cheek and nuzzling his neck, "Thinking of the should haves and could haves won't do you any good now…" she softly said, feeling his hand run down her back, resting at the small of it. "… and… yes of course I'll grant you that… but we shouldn't take too long… you deserve some time with you little boy too I think… it wouldn't be very fair to Lloyd if I hogged you the entire night…"

He pulled her back so he look at her watery green eyes again, moving her messed up bangs from her eyes after they kissed again, "To be honest… I was shocked Lloyd didn't run away crying the moment I walked out…"

"He's your son… do you think he would run away from someone like you?" she swallowed. "And I would make sure he wouldn't do that… but… he's a comforter… do you even know how many times he came running at the slightest sign I was crying?"

"Then it looks like we know who he takes after more… I guess to hug someone who looked like something from a nightmare… he's got your bravery…" he laid down, hugging her small body.

"He'll have your snark… trust me…" Misako closed her eyes, smiling a bit, it was the first calm conversation she had in weeks. Shame it would end in a few hours, but she pushed that aside in her mind for now, why spoil this with those thoughts?

"Isn't funny… after almost thirty years… we did lose two kids… and now I feel like I lost him too…" he mumbled.

"Shhh…" Misako hushed him. "He's not dead… I… I don't know what will happen… but he will see you again… tonight is not a goodbye…" she turned so they were face to face, a sad smile on her face. "M-maybe I'll let him visit every once in a while if I have the time…"

"Promise?"

"…Promise…"

* * *

><p>Misako stared out the large window in the small bedroom of the apartment she was currently living in with Lloyd next to Sonia and Daniel; a pit in her stomach since last night. He asked her to stay, even knowing that she would say no, he still kept hope she would… but there was no way she was fit to be a queen of darkness… but she agreed to visit again…<p>

She remembered how Lloyd started waking up again, wanting to just bring him home before there could be any crying and screaming from him. Garmadon looked so heartbroken as he watched her carry their little boy off, back home where they belonged, and he belonged as well. The betrayed look in his eyes would haunt her forever. Lloyd started waking up and crying as well but being told he could come calmed him down a bit.

But it was a promise, even if he thought she was probably just lying to make him feel better; she wouldn't just leave him to rot away with the dead. If a mortal, cursed or not, spent enough time down there, their bodies would rot away and their souls would never be put to rest, it was actually hell and she wouldn't ever let that happen to him.

The doorbell rang at last and she knew who it would be, so she wiped her eyes and answered the door to greet Kasai and Namiko, Kai and Nya were right behind them. They couldn't know about where she went last night, let alone considering going back, no one could know because they would advise her how dangerous it could be now that Garmadon was a creature of the shadows.

Personally, she did not want to hear it from anyone and she didn't need something being accidentally blabbed to Wu that would further lead to her be pestered by him. She cut him off, it was over for them.

Still, she knew that her husband could be very dangerous, there were little things she never told anyone in her life that happened between them; it even scared her when she thought back on the horrendous memories of nights where he was so close to snapping.

Not long after she came back from the Underworld, when Lloyd was still very young, she woke up to a pained whimper and almost animal like growling as shiny red eyes glared at her, almost appearing to float in the darkness.

She was petrified beyond belief when she saw him like that. She did the only thing she knew she could do, and that was push through any fear of him to at least touch him. It backfired completely and ended with her receiving a nasty claw mark to her shoulder that was still there as a faint scar, a reminder. The woman always lied to people when they asked about it, claiming Nina accidentally jumped and slashed her when she was spooked once.

Now that she thought about, that was quite significant. From how her husband talked to her last night, he was setting out to change the world for her, to protect her. Whatever plagued his mind before finally snapping must have tried to just take over to cause death and destruction and nothing more, forcefully trying to take over his vulnerable mind but he just fought right back.

It grew smarter though, when it saw how he calmed when she refused to leave his side and how he reacted when he saw that he had hurt her, it realized that he held her in highest regard to anything else in the world, even his own life.

And it used his love against him completely.

"Hey, you okay?" Misako flinched when Namiko asked her the question, concern on her still pale face. She seemed to not realize these dark thoughts started showing on her already tired face. "You look all shaken up… did… something happen last night? Or… did… you know… did you have more nightmares?"

"Y-yes… I'm… fine, I promise… I'm still stressed out is all… but I just have to keep going… I can't let that stop me from functioning," Misako coughed. "Don't worry about me… please…" she sat back and looked up when Kasai brought her a cup of tea. "Thanks…"

"Did you ask about a raise yet? It's been two weeks after all… you've practically been avoiding Ben this whole time… I think he knows something's up with you, I wouldn't put it past Sonia to tell him about everything," Kasai sat down on the other side of the couch.

"Ah yes… another thing to add to my stress list…" Misako pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose more. "Thanks for reminding of that…"

"Kasai!" Namiko snapped.

"What!? I'm sorry… It's just… ya know…"

"No… I'm sorry… I'm just on edge… I know you're just trying to help me…" Misako cut in quickly. "I just have to focus about Lloyd… he's my top priority more than ever now…" she looked over to see her baby boy playing around in the corner of the room with the cat. "Him and work are the only things I can focus on at all… I just have to keep busy and… not think about… him…"

Kasai decided to get up and go see what his kids were up to so Misako and his wife could have some time to themselves. It was far too long since they had just girl discussions.

"Of course…" Namiko nodded. "I just wanted to let you know that when we were little… and I first met you… I thought you were the coolest," she blushed. Misako blushed a bit too, "I was always looked up to you… even if you were in pain, out of the game… you always managed to make sure I was ok or well, tried to keep going in any situation… hell, you just had given birth and you stopped me from killing myself… you just… always know what to do… or that time when you were pregnant with Lloyd, literally on your back and dying, you tried so hard to assure everyone that you were okay…."

Misako hugged her tightly, "Namiko… you and Rose were the sisters I never had… You're plenty strong too you know… I'm just stubborn and thick headed, that can be a very bad thing… almost got me killed several times I think…"

The brown eyed woman laughed a bit, "Of course… I'm really not Mimi… but… thank you for saying that…" she quieted down, "You should come over sometime… just to get away from this city… even being back here… especially now… this city is such a weird place… I mean… why do you think we left years ago?"

"Maybe…" Misako nodded. "Everywhere reminds me of him… it hurts so badly most days…" she bit her lip, "I'm gonna bring him back though Nami…" Namiko looked at her with wide eyes. "I have to… do you know what happens to people who stay there too long?"

"True… he doesn't deserve that much… no matter what he tried to do to Wu…" she quietly nodded along. "What are you gonna do about it though? I mean, there can't be a loophole or something… right?"

Misako scoffed a little bit, "I thought the reason you looked up to me was because I was smart and never gave up?"

"Okay you got me there…"

**Woo, almost forgot today was Monday... haha... yea... I'm sorry for the next chapter... it gets even more sad... **

**I should get to work on other stories too now that I'm getting more done on this story... **

**So that's today's update, thanks so much for reading and I'll see you guys later!**

**~Mar**


	109. Get to Work

Wu stared at the weapons on the wall in the room where his life was turned upside down for real, the last time he touched them was to put them back after that horrible fight and he would still have horrible flashbacks of such a fight. It irked him to be living in this place still. It was the only place who truly knew his whole life though, no matter how many horrible things happened there.

Like he always said; the monastery held nothing but empty memories from the innocent days of being children, when all was right in the world they thought absolutely nothing could stop them. When you're young, you feel like you're invincible, the top of the world and only when you grow up and have experience do you truly realize how cruel and dark the world really is.

He stared at the pictures he never bothered to take down from the walls. There was one of just his parents when they looked very young. It seemed to be their wedding day judging by the very formal looking robes they wore. Next to it was one of his mother holding his older brother, probably the only time he looked so innocent. He felt even worse when he caught glimpse of his brother's wedding picture, he never looked so happy in his entire life there. Wu quickly turned away from that one.

He then fully noticed, any picture with his whole family, his mother was never holding him, except for one when he was still a baby. Not to mention, he just started noticing that his father never smiled in any picture, the only one with the faintest smile was the wedding picture or any one before the brothers were born.

The blonde shook his head quickly, "It's probably no reason for that… he smiled plenty of times growing up…" he mumbled a bit and went into the small library, looking for something to occupy his time with, literally anything to read. A folded up envelope fell out from a shelf and picked up, surprised to find his name on it.

It looked very old, faded and worn envelope, covered in dust, his name was written in the familiar, curly writing that his mom used to own, just like the writing in her old journal that Misako still possessed.

_My Wu,_

_If you're reading this I am long gone unless a miracle happens, then again, I would have torn this up if I lived and told you myself. Damn your father, I know he'll keep this from you, it's in his nature to. I hope it hasn't been too long since I saw you because then who knows what this whole thing will be good for unless you use the information right away. _

_I know it will be very hard for you, but please look out for your older brother. I don't know what will happen to him exactly, but your father never exactly loved him, maybe in the early years caring for him as a baby, but when you were born, he was captivated by you. Maybe it was because you're the spitting image of him and he loved the idea of creating a mini version of him, to groom you to take his place. I'll never truly understand that man. And another reason maybe when I'm gone, he will resent your brother for looking like me._

_What I'm trying to say is; Garmadon will need all the help he can get; you know he was bitten by a snake? Well you're dad is going to be even more strict with him, especially with me passed on like this; trust me. I also ask this because, if my hunch is right, Misako will have quite a weight to carry, I'm sure she would appreciate all your help too._

_I know you must think that I favored your brother over you, it's not true, I loved you just as much. Your brother was an emotional one, so naturally he ran to me so much and I had to calm him. I'm sorry if it looked like I didn't love you Wu, nothing could be farther from the truth, I'm very sure you're not just like your father, but me too, I don't want you to become a mini version of him, you should be your own person, with all your own thoughts and ideas to help make the world a better place._

_I know Garmadon will yell and scream and rage when he's upset at things, but he will just want someone to listen and to hold his hand when he feels like that. Do you know what you're brother said to me when you were born? If I recall he said "I'm gonna protect him and be the best brother ever! I love him!" it may not look like that's what ended up happening, but he always meant well and I know deep down he loves you still, just be there and show him you love him back and I know you'll both have a strong bond._

_When I was young, the same happened between my sister and me, though she will deny it forever if you ever get the chance to meet her. But, we started off close and we had been trying to mend that the past couple of years. Regardless, we both regret that time away from each other, and we love each other, do not make the same mistake with your brother, life is short and things can happen that you cannot see coming most of the time. _

_So now this letter is at an end. Goodbyes are hard, I know. I hope that you didn't cry too much at my passing, and knowing your brother, he must have sobbed until eyes were dry and his throat hurt. I love you my precious Wu, may your mission be a success my little ninja!_

_-Mommy_

Wu sniffed when he folded it closed. "Why would you keep this hidden?" he looked at a picture of his father. "Maybe brother was right… you kept way too many secrets… didn't you? Ii always thought there was some good reason for it… but you just… why would keep this one?"

The blonde looked to his left at a small mirror that was in the room and then back to the old painting he was just looking at. His mother wasn't wrong; he looked just like his father. He scratched the growing hair on his chin; he gave up on shaving weeks ago he was so upset, he was letting himself go. He looked back to the written words of his mother and sighed.

"Okay so I look like him… I… I can still think for myself…" he mumbled angrily. "What if I just happen to share the same ideas as he did!? I… I'm not j-just some trained dog… or parrot he trained to recite everything I was ever told by him…" he remembered that his brother also said something like that. _"I wonder if that's another reason why he lashed out so horribly… I probably reminded him of dad…"_ he now thought to himself, leaving the library quickly.

He sat down in his room, legs crossed, still holding the letter in his shaking hands. "It still doesn't excuse him from attacking me though-" he swallowed, stopping himself, remembering back to what Misako shouted at him that morning everything fell through for real between them.

"But I still could have helped… it probably wouldn't be much… but maybe it could have changed something…" he wiped his eyes. "Mom… I'm sorry I accused you of favoring Garmadon over me… I should have known you were just trying to help him like I should have done more of…"

The younger brother lay back, staring at the ceiling. _"From now on… I'm not just going to sit by… I'm going to do something…" _he jumped to his feet, looking down as he walked, "Garmadon's in the Underworld… and there's the prophecy about the green ninja I once read… but before that there was said about four bearers of the first four elements… four young ninja that would go on to be the greatest one of them all…"

He left his room again and started looking through scrolls, "Family trees of all the original masters of Spinjitsu… from the days of the long forgotten Stone War…" a small smile slipped on his face again, finding something new to occupy his time with.

"Let's start with the earth line…" he said to himself, "Let's see… Sakine had a great grandson that fought in the first Serpentine War… Jimen… and he had three kids from two separate marriages… the youngest had a great niece… that was probably Misako from the look of things… but his granddaughter… was Rose… so they're cousins a few times removed…" he covered his mouth, tapping his fingers on a desk before sighing, "… who only had one kid and Lou is now overly protective over him… and the other descendants probably live more down south instead of Central Ninjago where the earth empire city was… great…"

Okay, so maybe it would be just a little bit harder than what he first thought...

* * *

><p>Misako was standing before the Stone War exhibit, staring at the elaborately embroidered tapestries and painted scrolls on the walls that were restored to like new status, something she hadn't done in a very long time; studying all the paintings. It was one of the very few exhibits Garmadon ever took interest in when she was working from home when Lloyd first came along.<p>

"Misako!" She jumped at the sudden sound of her name announced. "Sorry, didn't mean to freak you out…" the director chuckled, shoving a hand into his pants pockets as he walked over. "I just wanted to give you these…" he handed her a bunch of scrolls in a casing, "I… found them in the archives and thought that you might be interested in what they might say… in fact… I think they were originally found by your parents… on the… same trip that they, uh, died…" he trailed off for a moment. "Forgive me; I'm sure that's a horrible memory for you still… you were pretty young when it happened…"

"Oh, no… it's been what? Over twenty years? To be honest… I don't exactly remember that day much… or even remember them in general… but I do know they were obsessed with the rumored Temple of Light and the Dark Island and stuff… I think they just… went a bit crazy… I think the more they dove into those myths… they just… well… forgot about reality they were leaving behind…" she fell silent again for a second. She looked down at the scrolls and nodded, "Thank you sir…" she smiled again.

"Of course… Oh, and while I'm here…" he started, "I… want to put you back on the Stone War project… the investors want something… new to be added to it, I was thinking… from what your papers said, the end of the war was just the start of some newer… bigger war… and I would be willing to double your pay for it too… I mean, unless you think I should be paying you're little… research assistant shall I call him? He seems to be helping out an awful lot at the front desk with Sonia lately…"

Her green eyes widened more and she blushed brightly as her boss turned away, leaving her with a knowing smile. "Th-thank you Mr. Wilson…"

"Come on, we've known each other for what? Twenty years at least?" he laughed, "I always tell you, when it's not in front of the investors, you can say Ben… I'm not that much older than you you know… and yes, Sonia told me everything in case you were wondering, I hope you're research helps more than just this exhibit… and… who knows, maybe what your parents always believed in was true… maybe such a place really exists".

Misako shook her head, smiling again, it seemed like she was back on track with work and with coming up with a way to bring Garmadon back from the Underworld, looks like she would be killing two birds with one stone. The director was right, she had work to do.

* * *

><p>Lloyd had fallen asleep while playing in the small living room, curled up with his head resting on the familiar black cat; his mother looked back and smiled at his sweet face, turning back to her scrolls and work. It was rather nice the past two and half months, she found a new strength to work, Lloyd was content, and though she still had mixed feelings about it, Misako even received a visit every once in a while from Garmadon, he would talk to Lloyd for the most part but seeing his shadow come around, it almost felt like he really was there.<p>

She wasn't against it, Lloyd would always ask 'when's daddy coming to visit again!?' and she didn't want him to be denied that and everything did seem rather fine… that is… until she asked Lloyd what he wanted for his fifth birthday…

* * *

><p>Misako stared at her young son, eyes wide, suddenly uncomfortable, "I… you want to do what for your birthday?" she swallowed.<p>

"I wanna go and see daddy again! Can we? Pleeeeeeease?" he was practically begging her.

She held a hand to her forehead, letting out a breath and looking away from his pleading eyes, oh how he reminded her of her husband when he wanted something so badly. "O-okay… we can go see daddy again in the Underworld…" she swallowed, feeling a lump in her throat.

"YAAAAAAAY!" Lloyd bounced forward to hug his mother. She looked down and smiled a bit more, hugging him right back, at least he was excited.

"Okay okay… you're welcome…" she let out a small sigh, caressing the top of his head. "We'll go see daddy next week… on your birthday… I guess we shouldn't allow this to be the first birthday he misses… five… that's such an important number… you'll be starting school… soon…" she got lost in her own thoughts now.

_"School… oh joy… there's not one school around here that doesn't require some fee… I forget this city can be so damn expensive and there are hardly any public schools with openings…" _Misako wiped her eyes tired. _"What am I gonna do about that? It's easier to have him just be with me all the time… can I handle driving him to and from school and school fees and books and… oh gosh…"_

"Mommy?" Lloyd asked.

"It's okay… lost in thought again is all… don't worry about it… do-do you think we should tell daddy next time he comes by? Or should we surprise him?" she turned the topic back to him. "Hmm?"

"Surprise!"

"Of course," she laughed, picking him up. "Come on, I need to go do some shopping, maybe you can help pick out what you want for dinner".

"CANDY!"

"Oh you are your father's child alright…" she let out a laugh, shaking her head at the typical child like response. Lloyd tilted his head a bit, "He was a little sugar addict… just like you!" she started tickling him, making the toddler giggle uncontrollably. "Oh my little Lloyd…" she laughed with him.

**Sooo... yea, this was kind of a filler? Idk, like I always said, I never thought that the FSM would be the nicest dude in general... Maybe I'm too harsh on Wu so, ya know, decided to give him some development... hopefully I succeeded in that...Sorry to say, the the next one is... depressing... I also had a chapter that took place on Halloween... being I was hoping to post that chapter by the week of Halloween but you know how that ended up going down (looks to computer who was being a serious butt to me)  
><strong>

**I uh... also may or may not be working in some silly headcanons about Morrow I had to work into this story... hehehe... I know a lot of people liked Morrow (I do too okay? I admit it... I like Morrow, k?) so, I was thinking of some... intesteresting ways to work him into the story haha...**

**So the schedule might be Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays for now... until that changes probably and I switch back to the old one in a few weeks because I think I'll be caught up to where I wanted to be... **

**Well, that's all, see you Saturday for sure! Thanks for reading guys!**

**~Mar**


	110. Cold Shoulder

Wu ran his fingers through his hair, "Okay okay…" he mumbled, looking at his papers where he was writing everything down. "So… Cole is apparently the youngest of all the descendants of earth… the second youngest is twenty three… it would be easier to pick out all teenagers…" he chewed on a nail.

"Lightning ninja… is still in the dark… curse them for almost dying out…" he growled to himself more. "Ice masters… Tanaka is the only ice user I ever saw… Crevan might have the power hence making his daughter a carrier of the elemental gene but I think there were smoke genetics on his dad's side… so that may have carried over to them… leaving just Tanaka with ice… curse _them_ for being so quiet and unknown…" He continued.

Then he came to fire, "Fire… fire…" he licked his lip, thinking that one over, "I still don't know which side of the family Kasai earned that trait… for all I know Namiko's genes took over that one… a water and a fire user… geez… which one got the fire… Kai or Nya… they're still pretty young though… I should wait until their teens at least and see which one has the element… if either of them will even…"

Children were too young; anyone over twenty was too old probably. How would you react if some guy came up to you and asked you to dump your whole life that was just starting to stay at his monastery? He would have to convince teenagers who were looking for an out from the life they had, or had to convince them that being a ninja was really fun and cool.

"Okay, I'll just work on getting Cole to come here… with or without Louis' knowledge I guess… better start keeping tabs then…" he sat back in his chair, looking out the window, "Happy birthday Lloyd…" he sighed, pulling out one of the only pictures he had, him holding his nephew who was hours old.

He sometimes regretted not being able to move past his infatuation for Misako, maybe he could have had kids of his own as well if he could just have moved on and met someone new… maybe… it was a nice dream maybe. The younger brother looked at his watch and got up. "Guess I better go to town before it gets too dark out…" he stretched his arms over his head tiredly.

* * *

><p>"Okay… you ready now?" Misako looked down at Lloyd who had a little backpack on he would always where when he was 'going on an adventure'. "And you can open you're presents and we can stay till morning again… okay?"<p>

"Yep!" he piped and took off ahead of her, letting go of her hand, laughing the whole time.

She ran after him, struck with panic that he might get lost or hurt himself… or both. "Lloyd! Lloyd wait! Please! Just wait up!" she panted, catching up to him when he finally decided to stop. "Don't do that! I would never be able to live with myself if you got hurt!"

"Sorry mama…" he looked down, ashamed he did that now.

"Who's there?!" came the cranky voice of his father who was not expecting company.

"DADDY!"

"Wait… LLOYD?!" the older man ran back out, truly surprised that they were here. When he picked Lloyd up, he held him over his head, laughing and maybe even crying. "How did you get down here?! Does mommy know you're here?!" he asked.

"Don't worry; I wouldn't ever let him run off without my okay…" she came back out, looking at him with a tired smile, running a hand through her light brown fringe. "He said he wanted to come here for his birthday… and how could I say no to that face?" she dropped her bag to the floor. "I mean, it is your face after all".

Garmadon looked like he was blushing. "Ahem… well…" he looked back to their son. "I'm sorry to say… I probably didn't get you anything nearly as nice as what mommy got you… I was afraid I'd never get to give it to you actually… looks like I was wrong".

"Well, he waited to open his present until we got here…" Misako replied. "How about we go do that right now?"

"Sure… come on," the dark lord nodded his head over to follow him.

They sat Lloyd on the bed, two boxes for him, one from each. Lloyd decided it was right to open up his mother's first; after all she was the one that was always making sure he was taken cared of the past months.

He pulled out black cloth and looked at her. Misako blushed a bit and looked at her husband, "That was daddy's… a life time ago… I fixed it up because he ripped quite a few holes in it… and I know it's big for you… but if you wear it… we'll always be right there with you… protecting you from anything that would harm you… I, uh, thought that would be more special than a new racecar for you collection…"

Lloyd quickly slipped it on; it was cute and comical how his small arms didn't fit in the sleeves, creating huge sweater paws. "This was yours?" he looked to Garmadon who nodded with a wide smile on his blackened face. "I love it!" he jumped into Misako's laugh, thwacking her with the extra sleeves until she rolled them up for him.

"Okay okay… so mine's not as… special as what mommy gave you… how can I compete with my old sweatshirt?" he looked at her, poking her cheek while she just rolled her eyes. "But… I kind of… fixed it up too I guess…" he pushed the box closer.

It was a patchwork bear with a bit of hack stitching and it didn't quite look as fluffy and cuddly as a normal teddy bear you would find in a store. Lloyd held it up and smiled brightly at it like it was the most beautiful thing he ever saw.

"I know it's not pretty… there is a considerable lacking of fabric and thread down here if you would believe it," he smirked. "I started that weeks ago… I thought I wouldn't ever get to give it to you… so I… I don't know; I just kept it around… I'm also sorry to say I tried hiding it from those stupid skeletons…"

Lloyd tackled his father back on the bed, both laughing and cuddling like what they should be able to do every day, not just once in a long while. It pained Misako's heart even more, he seemed happier if anything than before his fall.

"D-do you enjoy this? I mean… you just seemed so depressed… living up top… now that you're here… you smile way more than I ever thought you would… and I know it's not faked to keep me from worrying…" she wiped her eyes, feeling stupid for having the words just fall out of her mouth like that. Both boys had fallen silent now, looking at her.

"No… but whatever the hell was bugging and poking at my mind all the time has backed off considerably… so I guess I can laugh more because of relief… but it is only like this when you two come here… every day… I get to see nothing but dead souls and Skulkin… well, and other disgusting creatures that dwell here…" it sounded like a rather cold response.

"I'm sorry; I don't even know why I said that… I should have known that was the reason…" she lowered her head, ashamed under his hurt gaze.

He surprised her with a kiss, even though Lloyd was scrunching his nose at the gesture. "I do not enjoy being separated from you two… I will never be truly happy unless I get to live everyday waking up to your beautiful face…"

"I bet you say that to all the girls," she joked with just the faintest hints of a teasing smile.

"Just… drop it… I thought it was his birthday-" the dark lord looked to his left where their son was seated to find that he was gone. Both parents jumped to their feet, quickly searching the room for him. "Oh great… he's gone… nice job…"

"And what's that supposed to mean!?" Misako held a hand to her chest, offended by his tone of voice.

"It doesn't matter what the situation is Mimi, you just keep on taking shots at me over something I couldn't control!" he snapped at her.

"You left me!" she shouted back. "Excuse me if I question whether you were ever happy with just me after you didn't even ask for my help one night! You just walked right out of the house and… and just… do you honestly know how terrified and sick I felt for two and half weeks of no word from you whatsoever!? You left me on my own with Lloyd with no one but Kasai and Sonia to help me get through this!" she sniffed, eyes watering more.

The air felt so thick you couldn't even breathe. The two just stood there, staring at each other, shocked at the words that were coming out of each other's mouths.

"Maybe this was a horrible mistake tonight… coming here…" she sniffed, wiping her nose on her sleeve, shaking her head. "Maybe I should have just told Lloyd no… but, he looked so happy when I said yes…"

He was just staring at her still. "So what!? You never want to see me again!? You gonna just… leave me all alone and… and…" he felt horrible. Now it truly felt like his world was crashing around him, "Maybe I can find a way to get back myself!" he growled. "Maybe I don't need you to solve my problems! I can solve them myself!"

"Maybe I'm tired of helping you all the time when you blow off my help!" she stomped her foot down hard. "Did you ever love me or did you just not want to Wu to be happy!?"

"How dare you say that!" he pointed at her. "I loved you since we were kids, I told my mom I was gonna marry you when I was four… and that was before the venom, before that freaking snake bite when I still knew what it was like to be happy! I tried so hard to love my brother and you saw what happened! I failed because no matter how hard I try to be good, it just… never worked out right! But if there was one thing I ever loved… it was you…"

The two adults seemed to be forgetting that they still had to find Lloyd who had gone missing during the short squabble.

Misako folded her arms tightly across her chest, lowering her head and quietly holding back sobs but he could tell from the way her small body shuddered when she would quietly let a flood of tears out. His angry face softened up right away when he saw her like that.

"Mimi…" he quickly walked up to her, hugging her tightly. It took a while but she finally wrapped her arms around him as well, cheek resting against his chest, squeezing her eyes shut tighter, feeling his hand caressing her head. "I do love you… please believe me…"

"HEY! "

The two's eyes opened when they heard Lloyd's yelp from down the corridor. "Oh my gosh, we forgot about Lloyd…" Misako covered her mouth and took off.

It took Garmadon a minute to process she had run off from his arms and started after her now, "MISAKO! Wait up will you!? You don't know how to navigate this place!" he growled, frustrated with her always running off ahead.

He practically ran into her when she stopped, staring off at Lloyd who was dangling in Samukai's grip, kicking and shouting at the Skulkin to put him down. "What the hell do we have here? A little brat?" he looked up at the couple. "So I was right, you're nothing like us you softie…"

"Put my son down right now!" Garmadon marched right up to the four armed skeleton, snatching Lloyd right back from his general before he could have the chance to respond. "Touch him again and you'll be a pile a dust, I guarantee it you scumbag," he hissed.

The skeleton grimaced right back and turned on a heel, walking away from the family. Lloyd just looked up at his dad liked he was the greatest person in the whole world. He noticed that and sighed, "Just… don't you dare do that ever again… you hear me? I don't care what's going on, you never ever run off like that!" he held him up to see eye to eye with the five year old, gripping his shoulders tightly.

"Ok… I'm sorry…" Lloyd looked upset and ashamed that he obviously scared them.

Misako looked like she was having a heart attack, holding her hands to her face, cooling down from that scare.

"I think you should apologize to mommy too… she would die if anything happened to you…" Garmadon whispered to his son who nodded back. "Do you really understand how much you mean to her? She would do anything to keep you safe…"

The green eyed toddler was set down and waddled up to his mother, hugging her legs, "I'm sorry mama…" he quietly said to her next.

"Damn right you are!" she quickly picked him up, kissing him all over his face. When she was done, she looked to her husband, though looked away just as quick, "Come on Lloyd… it's getting late… you should go to bed soon I think…"

"Aaw…" Lloyd whined a bit, looking back at his dad who nodded in agreement with his wife.

"Come on…" she carried him before Garmadon could get the chance to say anything.

When he came back to the room, he found them curled up under the blanket; it looked like she was going to be reading a story to him but put it away again when he shut the door behind him. "… I'm sorry if you felt like I thought I was too good to have you two be around me… okay? It… do you know how much that hurts when you say that to me?"

Misako looked down and nodded a bit. "Yes… I'm just… I think angry still…"

He threw off his shoes and set the helmet aside, moving over so he was closer to them, "Do you not remember how much I cried when he was born? How much I wanted to hear Namiko say that you both were okay and we would make it out altogether?" he saw Lloyd was looking up at them both and kissed the top of his head. "Come on buddy… we're sorry if we ruined your birthday by… arguing…"

Lloyd just shifted uncomfortably so this time, both parents gave a kiss on each cheek at the same time, earning a few giggles from him.

**Okay well, I think it's official that after next Saturday, the schedule for posting will be restored to normal... the next one was that Halloween chapter I was supposed to post in time for Halloween like what I said in the last a/n.**

**IDK, I would imagine the reason why things were so awkward in Last Hope when she went to see him was because that however it ended, it ended after his fall in a situation like this. Like what you all should have known when getting into this, this is all p much headcanon and a 'few' dashes of au thrown in here.**

**But the next chap... do you guys remember my Halloween fic from last year? (er, well, the people that have been reading my fics for that long, I apologize for that fic, that was a weird one...) How I said I had this headcanon based off the El Tigre Day of the Dead special? How there is this temporary portal between earth and the Underworld? Well... I'm finally using the idea I had in my head for months! :D**

**So thank ya for reading! I need to stop updating these fics so late at night geez... 12:11? Really? Is that the time now?!**

**~Mat**


	111. Reality

Wu was sitting on the roof of the monastery, overlooking the faint lights of the towns below the mountain where everyone lived happy lives, unlike him it seemed. "So… sundown just passed a few minutes ago… I wonder what will be lurking around tonight this year…" he sighed. "I wonder if Lloyd and Misako are having any fun… we used to have so much fun on this night when we were all younger…"

* * *

><p>Misako wiped her face tiredly, looking at the wall clock, it was getting late, "Lloyd, got your costume on sweetie?" she looked over her shoulder to see her five year old son wearing a white sheet with holes cut out around his eyes, smiling when she saw him.<p>

"Yep!" he chirped, waving his arms around, "BooooOOOoooo!" he ran around in a circle.

His mother laughed and shook her head, "Now… remember… we're going to hold hands and not take off… got it? Who knows what monsters are around, ready snatch you up and eat you!" she grabbed hold of him, pulling the sheet off and blowing raspberries on his tummy.

"Okay! Okay mama!" he laughed loudly, wriggling from her arms. "I want candy now! Right now!"

"Dear gods, your father would say that when we were kids whenever we went into town…" she remembered fondly. She also remembered that on this night for many years they battled strange creatures from the Underworld that liked to reek a little bit of havoc for a few hours every year. "Nina, don't make a mess while I'm gone!" she jokingly told the black cat who looked away from her owner.

Yep, it was Halloween and Misako was swamped with her newest research and looking into schools for Lloyd, she was hoping for something that would be affordable for her being she didn't want help from her friends this time, she had to do this on her own. And that was just like her, she was as stubborn as ever to be independent.

The mother opened the door, all ready to get going, but she froze mid step when she saw who was standing there in the doorway being she almost ran right into him. "I… you're… here…" she blinked, stunned stiff.

"Daddy!" Lloyd excitedly shouted as he always did when he got the rare chance to see his father face to face these days. "I'm a ghost! BOO!" he shouted, hopping around, wanting to be picked up by him.

"Truly terrifying… I'm sure you would fit right in with the monsters in the Underworld… maybe even scare mean old Samukai himself," the father lifted the sheet to kiss the boy's nose, making him laugh more.

Misako folded her arms loosely, "Of course… Sundown to sunrise… All the monsters come alive, From the realms of darkness and everywhere in between, They all come to earth on Hallow's Eve…" she nodded as she said a rhyme she remembered hearing Masuta say when they were children, the top reason he wouldn't let them go out on that night for a long time. "How could I forget I should have been expecting you here tonight…"

"And you're the smart one too," he bopped her nose playfully. "Not dressing up this year?" he looked down at what she was wearing, nothing out of the ordinary, dark pants, a plain green shirt with her brown coat, her normal every day clothes.

"Didn't feel the need to dress up… guess I'm not in the spirit like I used to be…" she answered sadly, tightening her smile before looking away from his face. "So, I guess you'll be coming with us then?" she swallowed, preparing for the enthusiastic yes of her husband.

"…Well… I just thought… it's the one time of the year I could come over… y-you know…" he tilted his head a bit, feeling strange about it suddenly. It seemed like a much better idea in theory earlier that day, but now... "I'm sorry; I wanted to surprise Lloyd… I should have told you before I just showed up like this…"

"It's fine, by all means… come along if you want- oh… Nina…" Misako stopped when she looked down, Nina was at her feet, eyeing Lloyd like a guard dog.

"Nina, it's me… I'm not gonna hurt them…" he crouched down to scratch behind the cat's ears. She seemed satisfied and slinked away, into her cat tree after giving his hand a warm lick. "Looks like she still remembers me at least…"

Misako started out the door though while he was interacting with their pet, "Come on then… let's go… I don't like being out too late on this night…" she stopped and looked over her shoulder at her husband, "You're… not going to try anything are you? While you're here I mean?" He seemed to understand the question.

"I never want to see Wu again if that's what you're referring to…" he grimaced at the thought. "I'm just here for Lloyd… okay? That satisfy you? Or do you have any further questions for me officer?"

"Hey, I'm looking out for you too… I don't know what I can expect anymore… you still get those mood swings from what I've seen…"

"Ha ha… yea, okay… whatever… you got me there I guess…" they talked back and forth, Lloyd holding on to both of their hands, lifting him and swinging him back and forth from time to time to keep him occupied and to ensure he wouldn't run away from them a second time.

* * *

><p>Lloyd was walking ahead of his parents along the sidewalk and went up to the door himself this time, about to knock on said door when two other boys pushed him back into a bush in one swift motion. "Hey!" he yelped, sticking his head out, frowning at the rude children, lifting his sheet from his face to see better.<p>

The two boys in question looked back at him, laughing louder, "Oh look, he thinks he's scaring people with a dumb sheet over his head like that!" one had a nasally voice, he was in a little devil costume and his counterpart looked to be dressed like a mummy.

Lloyd's face scrunched up out of anger. "My daddy said I could even scare the Underworld monsters!" he defended against their rude remark.

"Well too bad kid, only the scary costumes are cool! Not your dumb little ghost costume! You couldn't scare a mouse with that thing on!" the mummy boy with the black curly hair and freckles laughed, high fiving his friend.

Lloyd looked down, feeling ashamed suddenly, he liked being a little ghost… and plenty of other people at the other houses seemed to like it too, including his parents which was always good enough for him. He would have to ask his dad about that later maybe.

When the door opened at last, Lloyd managed to hop up the step again to collect something before running back to his parents, just wanting to get away from those other boys and their friends who were waiting up for them. Garmadon had seen what happened though and didn't look very happy because of that either.

"Those little brats…" he hissed, watching them walking down the sidewalk by themselves, laughing together. "They think they're so…"

"Temper," Misako eyed him in her warning tone. "If you blow up and do something mean, that's it, no more visits ever again I promise you!" the smaller, female ninja threatened angrily. She couldn't deal with another blow out from him.

He rolled his eyes back at her, "I wouldn't care if it was someone else's kid to be honest… I give them credit for going around behaving like that… But no one shoves my son around Misako… maybe you just need to teach him to push back every once in a while…"

"They're five years old! You expect way too much from them! I don't like it either, but some things are learned over time…" she had to remind him of that fact. "What am I going to do? Train him to be a deadly little ninja!? Maybe he shouldn't even be like us… maybe you were right and our world and ways were too much…" She looked back down at Lloyd who was holding their hands; maybe he should learn how to stand up for himself in case neither parent could be there for him…

* * *

><p>The dark lord grumbled all the way home and after that as he watched his son count his candy slowly. Lloyd looked up at his father, mumbling to himself while his mother ignored him. He felt something was very different lately. He shook his head though, "Hey daddy?" Garmadon turned his attention immediately to his son. "… Am I scary?"<p>

"The scariest," he quickly replied to the question without a second's hesitation. The father then sighed, "Did those boys make fun of you tonight?" The toddler just nodded. "Oh great… Lloyd, you need to just ignore those brats because they have no idea what they're talking about".

"Yea, just ignore them sweetie," Misako called over from her desk, "Nothing good will ever come out of picking fights with people like. You can't pick every fight or you will never move on from anything…"

"But I still say he needs to push back every once in a while… I don't want people to think my son is some wishy washy baby who just takes beatings…" he mumbled to his wife again. She just sighed once more at his words, shaking her head, looking at her scrolls. "Hey… what's that?"

"My homework…" she sat back in her chair more when he came over. "Prophecies and boring things… you know the drill…" she trailed off when she was looking at the depiction of this 'dark lord'. Garmadon grew silent as he looked over her shoulder more. It may have been in the most ancient of languages, but even her husband knew some of the language. "You don't know if that's you or not-"

"You know any other dark lords that were banished to the Underworld?" he gestured to the papers.

Misako opened her mouth to attempt to argue it but Lloyd coughed and both turned around quickly, "Oh, please tell me you took away all the peanut butter cups and snickers and stuff with the peanuts…" Misako eyed her husband, starting to make a move towards the toddler who was itching his arm a bit.

"What? Why?"

"Honestly…" she rolled her eyes and pulled a little syringe out of her bag, "Hold still baby," she gently told him before sticking his arm. "Thank goodness it just happened or else I'd have to take you to the hospital…" she patted his back, the toddler coughed up most of the mini chocolate bar he just unknowingly ate. "Baby, I said no peanuts…" she then rubbed his back more, looking for something else it seemed.

Her husband was still in shock, "I told you a month ago when we came down, I found out he had a mild peanut allergy months ago… he should be fine though… I specifically said when we got back to sort the candy with him and take away everything with peanuts or nougat… shhh…" she gently hushed Lloyd, "Here; you gotta take this…" she was giving him something else to take for the rash. "Come on, you're going to bed right now…" she was relieved to hear him breathing normal again a minute later.

"Hey, I didn't know… I'm sorry…" he sighed, "Misako…" he shook his head, wiping his face. "Come on, I only have until sunrise before I get zapped back…"

"Then get in here and kiss your baby goodnight," she practically ordered him, smiling just a bit after that.

* * *

><p>Garmadon didn't want to leave. He never thought he could hate a sunrise more in his entire life. Once the sun rose; <em>poof<em>; back to the Underworld you go until a whole year could pass by and let you roam free again. Lloyd woke up, upset that his daddy was gone yet again.

"This is getting to be too much…" Misako mumbled to herself, leaning against the backboard of her bed, picking at her nails and watching her son sleep. It had been three days since Halloween. "I can't even focus on work at this point…" she willed herself to get out of the bed to at least try and eat something.

* * *

><p>Sonia volunteered to watch Lloyd while she got out for a few hours, even if it was simply going shopping, which she normally liked doing with her son.<p>

At a red light she stopped her car on her way home, looking to her left, there were those boys from the other night; without a doubt it was them with more of their friends, laughing and screaming and horsing around like little monsters.

All of them were in an untidy line being led by what looked to be a teacher since everyone had dark colored school uniforms on. She was able to make out what the patches said from where she was sitting. "Darkly's Boarding School for… Bad Boys?" Misako blinked and then remembered what her husband had told her last night about Lloyd standing up for himself. "But… bad boys…" she wiped her eyes, considering it.

"I don't know about that…" she shook her head, forgetting the idea; she knew she couldn't send Lloyd to place like that! She would make it work and find some other school for him to go to. He was so sweet and she would like him to stay like that.

For some reason though, it stuck with her all day, the name of the school, the boys who went there… Misako started throwing around the idea of sending her son off to such a place. _"I bet… if they knew who Lloyd's dad is… maybe they would just accept him without money… I wouldn't have to lay out anything… and it's a boarding school… which I know those are everywhere in Ninjago City and they're all so ridiculously expensive… and public schools are all filled up and hardly anyone gets a shot at being in them…" _

* * *

><p>She wouldn't tell anyone else about even playing around with the idea, not Lloyd, or even Garmadon for that matter. Who knew if he would be against her completely or go full against such an idea. The green eyed woman looked over the scrolls again, writing down the translations for the museum until she stopped; her pen breaking as she came to a realization while writing the last sentence.<p>

Of course the Green Ninja prophecy was renowned for many years by elemental masters and other heroes and villains alike; they were all aware of the great battle that would have to take place. A young ninja would rise above the others and was to become the green ninja, with all the powers of the first four masters and the power of the First Spinjitsu Master, Wu and Garmadon's father, which would lie dormant until his true potential was reached.

"There… there couldn't be anyone else…" she felt cold, looking at a picture of her husband holding a two year old Lloyd. In the picture, there was a bright gold glint in his eyes that she just assumed was a glare from the sun. "He's the only heir to the bloodline… it… it all makes sense now…" she stood up, mindlessly grabbing a paper towel to clean up all the ink she spilled from the pen, reality hitting her like a ton of bricks.

"It's… Lloyd… Lloyd is the Green Ninja… my husband and my son are going to have a fight to the death…"

**Oh my gosh, almost there... almost where I was supposed to be before the crash... hahahaha... oh dear Lord, shit gets so real when she sends Lloyd to Darkly's... I feel so bad...for like... everyone... even what I'm gonna do to Wu... and that's saying something.  
><strong>

**And... I'm gonna break out a mini version of the rant because I had seen people slowly bring it up here and there on tumblr... I know people hate on Misako and the two main reasons is that 1.) She drops her kid off at Darkly's when he's a little kid and 2.) she 'cheated' on Garmadon with Wu prior to the Final Battle. **

**Two of the most over used and stupidest reasons ever. If you came up with a different reason, then I would be genuinely surprised. For one, no one knows how she felt when G left. I'm not saying that she was right, but she may not have had many options. Can you try to think of her a person with fears and the capability of irrational thinking? And 'cheating' on her husband? I'm not gonna sugar coat this for the lil kids, cheating on your partner is essentially having sex with another person whilst being in a committed relationship. Oh boohoo she hugged Wu once because there was no one else around she had known very well? Oh, Wu saved her in season 5 from plummeting to her death like what anyone would do? Such romance, much wow.**

**Okay sorry, I'm tired and writing these chapters are bringing up old, annoying memories for me haha... yea, that's all, not gonna bring it up again in this story... promise... unless you wanna go!? I'll fight you, I'll fight my brother, I'll fight this couch I'm sitting... hell, I'll fight myself.  
><strong>

**Haha... semi-back on the topic I was going with... very emotional chapter is waiting for you all on Wednesday... or Thursday... still don't even know my own schedule... I'm a mature, well capable adult I swear (I'm sorely lying rn). Anywho, I'm surprised I even had time to write this one and the next update... between all the new games and musical equipment I've been playing with that I just bought and friends and trying to keep up on my art... oh... and I guess that little thing called geometry that I have to finish because I'm lazy af... not to mention the constant state of panic and anxiety I am in over everything ever owo... someone help me... please... **

**Sooo, on that awkward note, thanks for reading and I'll see you later! **

**~Mar**


	112. Twists and Turns

Wu felt lonely. There was no other way he could describe how he felt the past months. Sure he kept in touch with Kasai but even then, him and his wife wouldn't call or invite him over more and more. It was a rut every day, wake up, sit around, read maybe, sometimes check in to see if Cole would still be a good prospect for his ninja team, trying to keep his distance from Lou so he wouldn't see him snooping around, and the usual shopping.

He mindlessly thought about Misako, about Lloyd, his only family he had left in the world. He missed them so much and hated this ugly rift that occurred when Garmadon finally snapped. He went to grab another piece of fruit for his bag but another hand bumped into his, pulling him out of his thoughts right away.

It was a young woman, maybe in her mid thirties with long, black hair. The peculiar part about her hair was that she had odd, dark green streaked locks on both sides of her face and that rested on her shoulders. She was almost as tall as he was with pale gray, almost white colored eyes.

"Are… you okay?" she cautiously asked him, "You're face is really red…" she commented, leaning closer to look at him better. Her voice was a bit lower than the higher voice Wu was expecting, it fit her.

"I… uh…" the blonde man stuttered for a minute, but then coughed, "Yes… I was just really lost in thought… and… uh… I don't normally pay attention where I am when I do that… it's… kind of embarrassing when I do that in front of other people…"

"Oh, I know that feeling," she nodded in agreement and looked back at her hand, "Can you… um… give me my hand back? If it's not too much trouble I mean…" she pointed to his hand that was still resting on top of hers. Wu quickly complied. "Thanks…" she moved a piece of fringe from her eyes, "Hey…" she turned back to him, "You're… that guy who lives on the monastery… aren't you?" she asked.

"Hmm? Oh, yea… that's… me…" he trailed off. "What gave me away?" he tried to chuckle, it couldn't come out like that though.

"For one… you're kimono and that hat… not many people dress like that these days… I remember hearing there were even more of you, ninja I mean… I just moved here from Spinjago City but I had friends who raved about you and your team all the time…" she laughed. "Do you know a guy named Neuro?"

"Oh yea, met him a few years back, him and his roommates… have you met them?"

"Haha, oh yea, I'm friends with all four of those fools," she laughed, joking obviously, "Neuro was my boyfriend for a short while but it didn't work out… we were a little too different for each other like that… I was hoping I would get the chance to meet his other friends on this side of the country… I have to go though, I hope I can see you again when I have more time to talk".

"Hey, um, I never got your name," Wu suddenly remembered as she turned to walk away.

"Sayu," the lightly tanned girl looked back and smiled brightly at him.

"If you uh, ever wanted… you should come up some time I think. I never have much company anymore," he offered awkwardly. "If you… um… have nothing better to do… I mean…"

Sayu giggled a bit, "I think I'll be very happy to take you up on your offer… is tomorrow night okay?" she asked. Wu just nodded quietly and quickly, "Okay then, it's a date…"

* * *

><p>For some reason he was giggly over that word; and he had absolutely no idea why. There was something similar to how he felt around Misako… only… maybe this was a stronger pull of attraction. Wu had no idea what this was but he decided to enjoy it. "Sayu…" he said under his breath when she was gone, smiling to himself, forgetting the worries of the whereabouts of his family.<p>

Misako was small, but it was rare she ever felt like she was small. She was stiff and vocal when stating her peace to anyone in a position of authority… not in front of the principal of Darkly's Boarding School for Bad Boys though. He wasn't that much taller than she was, but he had a constant scowl on his face no matter what mood he was in. So the mother just sat; knees together and shoulders slumped just a bit.

"So you're son… his father is some prophesied dark lord is he?" the principal seemed mildly interested in what she was saying. "Because even I heard of that old story, I'm always interested in that specific _prophecy_".

She just nodded her head at first, "Uh, yes actually…" she straightened up more. "He just turned five about a month and a half ago and I noticed you still had space available for students and I just never had the time to try and enroll him somewhere…"

"But… you can't afford to send him anywhere and couldn't get him into your average public school…" he saw where this was going quite fast. "Tell me… you seem like a very good hearted woman… not so much like the mothers of the boys here… and I would expect that since your son lives with you and would behave like you, he doesn't hold much hope of… aspiring to be well… a villain…"

"He wants nothing more to be like his father, believe me," she retorted rather quickly. "I feel that he would much rather live with him most days instead of with me anyways…" It wasn't completely a lie, she felt horrible every time Garmadon was around because that seemed to be when Lloyd was the happiest. _"Not to mention I need him to be safe while I make sure he doesn't have to do any fighting with Garmadon…"_ she thought.

The older man seemed to be thinking this one over and sighed loudly, "Ok, I'll give the boy a chance then…" he stood up, "Only because my grandfather who started this school; the first Darkly; had faith in the younger generation of troublemaking brats. You may drop him off tomorrow and we will see how your son will fit in around here".

Misako was about to open her mouth to thank him several times over, but he cut her off instead, "Oh… do not thank me yet Mrs. Garmadon… because the moment your son fails our school criteria, he will be expelled and will be handed back to you to manage".

She suddenly felt sick under his piercing gaze, "I… understand that…" she swallowed, "However… I have been offered several travelling jobs with my work…" she paused, looking down, squeezing her hands into fists, it wasn't a complete lie, she really was offered the position, "Should anything happen to Lloyd… you should contact his uncle first… he lives up at the old monastery to the west of Ninjago City… his name's Wu…"

"Very well, he'll be the first we contact then and you will follow if he does not answer… does he know you're enrolling him here?"

"I haven't spoken to him in… months…" she slowly shook her head, feeling bad about that now.

"Well then, I guess we'll see you and your son early tomorrow morning Miss Misako…" he folded his hands together, putting on that fake, pleasantry that was laced with a condescending attitude to make himself feel superior to her.

Misako couldn't get out of there quick enough. It felt surreal that this was happening… maybe she was hoping that he would say no when she asked and that would be that and no one could ever say she didn't try to get him into a school.

* * *

><p>Eventually she would tell her friends where Lloyd would be going… maybe Sonia would understand why she did what she did… maybe Lloyd would grow up to understand as well over time. "Where I plan to go… my son cannot follow… I will stop this fight… and for now… Lloyd needs to be away from his father… even away from me… Garmadon hopefully won't find out where Lloyd will be and everything will stay dormant until I can fix this… somehow… maybe this will keep Lloyd from aspiring to train to be a ninja… and this will never even happen…"<p>

That's what she kept on telling herself as she walked Lloyd up to the black gates of the school. This would be the last time in a long while she would hold his hand, kiss his cheek; even hug him. _"This is for all of our own good… this will be a good thing… yep… I'm… I'm right…"_

Lloyd looked up at his mother, frowning more. A boarding school? He didn't mind a sleepover, but all the time? And why was his mother trying so hard to hide the fact that she was crying from him?

"Now… I promise, though we won't see each other every single day… I will visit whenever I can find the free time… now…" she straightened his backpack strap and he took her hand again, "Remember to brush your teeth and don't just eat sugary sweets all the time, mind the peanuts like what the allergist said… pay attention in class… just…" she swallowed, "be a good boy…"

"Uh huh… okay mama…" he hugged her, mumbling.

Misako didn't want to let go, every cell in her body was telling her to run the other way, clutching Lloyd so tight, to never let go of him and forget all about this stupid idea of hers. But no, after he biggest hug ever, she let go of her son and ruffled his bleach blonde hair, watching him walk through the gates. Before he got the chance to turn around and wave to her, she ran down the hill.

She wondered what his reaction would be… Shock? Sadness? Panic? Maybe even anger? She would never get know for however long it would take for her to fix things and come back for him.

The mother sat in the car for at least ten minutes, crying, resting her head on the edge of the steering wheel, taking her glasses off to wipe the fog and smudges off of them, she looked like mess. "This is wrong… this… this is so wrong… how is Garmadon going to react to this?" she sniffed, sitting back in her seat. "What have I done…?"

She took a few deep breaths and wiped her eyes again, "Everything will be okay… I just… I need him to be away from the both of us for now… I will come back for him… I promised I would… and I will… I will…" she kept assuring herself but it felt like empty promises.

* * *

><p>Later that night she sat, all alone and by herself on the bed that used to occupy her and her small son over the past few months. "How did my life come to this?" she whispered, eyes dry without anymore tears left to cry for now.<p>

Floods upon floods of memories came back, from the days of running around and training from Masuta, meeting three of her best friends and growing and learning together. Laughter and the innocence of youth and love, friendships she expected to last a lifetime and her extinguished in what felt like to be over night. Every kiss and secret moments she had with the man she adored, it was over and she would never get that back.

The life she knew as no longer there; almost everyone was gone, all the years she couldn't back played out in her head, bringing her tears again.

The room felt colder and she looked to the wall where the shadow of her husband was. "… Why are you crying?" he asked her.

"Because…" she swallowed, grabbing a tissue wiping her eyes, "I'm a bad mommy…"

He kept silent until he saw the pain in her green eyes. She only had that look a few times, and when she did, it was because of a whirlwind of guilt and anguish was built up. With that look and what she had answered with, it dawned on him, "Misako… where is Lloyd?"

"I needed him away from us… we are not good for him to be around right now… our lives are a mess and…" she started off, knowing he was about to burst into a raging fit once he would learn what happened to her. "He is safe though… I promise…"

"And where is safe!?"

"I… I can't tell you… not right now… no one is going to know until I'm ready to explain!"

"Misako! Where is my son!? Where is our baby!?" he started raising his voice, as expected. "What the hell did you do!?"

"Stop it!" she screamed back, getting up. "I cannot live like this anymore! I can't take your presence like this… every time I see you… Lloyd just… when he looks at you… it's with unconditional love… I know he loves me… but he just… he does everything _you_ say…_ you_ could do no wrong in his eyes… and when I see that face he makes when you're around… I know he only settles for me because I'm the only one here to raise him… I know he resents me for telling you no to living in the Underworld… I just know it Garmadon…"

"Is this some petty jealousy thing?! You sent Lloyd away to spite me and him!?"

"No! I love him too much to do something over a stupid thing like that! You… you could never understand," she didn't want to tell him who their son would grow up to be if she didn't try and do this, it would further crush his heart and soul. "And I'm not using that as an excuse either… you will never understand all the pressure I am constantly under because of this horrible mess…"

"Are you blaming me!?"

"No! I love you damnit! I love you and Lloyd more than I could ever love two people… do you know how much this is literally killing me? Do you think that if you were in my head… you wouldn't see how much I just want to give up and die already I'm so sick of all this bullshit?! I believe that you won't stay like this forever… but until then I had to do things… things that I know I'm going to probably regret in a few days… weeks… maybe even years if it takes that long… and I'm not going back on anything now!"

"Why are you doing this though!?" Garmadon shouted back, sounding like he was crying too. "You said I divided us when I fell… you're just furthering that by keeping Lloyd from us! We're his parents Misako! We lost two babies before him and now you're just ripping him away from me!"

"I already told you that I can't tell you! I can't ever tell you until I straighten everything out! Lloyd is not here purely for his own protection…" she hiccupped now. "If you find out where Lloyd is on your own, then by all means, see him… but just remember this… there is something bigger than any of us… I'm trying to cheat the system and stop something pretty frikking huge before it has the chance to even start… or at this point, maybe finish… but I'm done with being a pawn in the game of destiny… and I know you are too…"

Garmadon was silent.

"I love you… I love you so much…" she held her hand to the wall, wishing she could hug him. "But I think that this is something that I will need to do on my own… for now I have to say goodbye… but I will see you again…" she sadly smiled, "And when I do, it will be with your beautiful, untainted face… I promise…"

He saw the sincerity in her eyes, the same ones that cried so much it was unfair.

"Wait for me…" was all he said as a goodbye.

Misako was left alone to her thoughts until she flopped back on her bed, turning into her pillow, and cried a flood.

* * *

><p>Darkly's was a strange school for sure. Lloyd didn't exactly like the whole feel of the place when he reached his bed in the dorm room he would be sharing with five other boys. The only empty bed was the bottom bunk on the farthest one to the left where he dropped his backpack and sat on his new bed. It had been a while since he had his own bed, he was going to miss sleeping with mommy.<p>

Being it was his first official day, he was excused from actual classes so that he could get time to adjust and would be taken on a tour of the place later so he wouldn't be bumbling around through the hallways in attempts to find his classes. The blonde, pulled out his sweatshirt Misako gave him and then the hack stitch bear he had grown to truly love in the past two months.

He kept trying to imagine the sweater was his parents hugging him and tucking him to bed, assuring him that all was right in the world. There was no more of that though. Life was turned upside down and he would soon learn what cruel place the world really was.

* * *

><p>All three members of the very small Garmadon family cried enough to make a storm that night.<p>

**Hmm... lady with GREEN STREAKS IN HER HAIR hMMMMMMMMM**

**Such subtly, much wow Marissa, way 2 go, A plus for sure, such genius, they will never guess what I'm working here. **

**Sarcasm aside... this was the hardest chapter ever to write. It's official. I never have felt so much guilt in my entire life. Someone stop me from torturing these poor babies! Protect them from me, please!  
><strong>

**In other news, I'm thinking of start my Christmas fic soon... aaaaand... I may or may not have started shipping Clouse with a new OC named Millie... and made babies for them and it's just really cute... take my computer away I'm begging you, I should not be allowed to do these things to my sons. **

**So thanks for reading owo **

**~Mar**


	113. Loneliless

It had been a horrible month for Misako, she tried so hard to get used to the apartment being so empty and quiet without the laughter and giggles of her son to fill it. Nothing felt right to her anymore, she felt like she should be having a horrible nightmare, but it was so real.

Garmadon on the other hand, was constantly searching for where his wife sent Lloyd off to. He would never know that she put him in Darkly's because she thought that maybe, if Lloyd was to grow up to aspire to be literally _anything_ but a hero, he could never unlock his true potential and then that could possibly buy her even more time.

It was just a crazy idea though that she didn't even wholeheartedly believe in. It was the only decent option she thought she had for the time being.

* * *

><p>While all of this was going on with the parents, Wu almost completely forgot about the divide of his family and couldn't possibly know what his family was even up to now… all he knew was that Sayu almost always stopped by for two weeks straight and her time there grew longer and longer. Slowly, he started forgetting about anything but her. Some might think that it was nice he was learning to live with this, but it was almost becoming like an addiction.<p>

Sayu looked at all the pictures that were kept up on the walls, frowning, "… what… happened to such a big family? I mean… it's just you now? No one else?" she looked at a portrait of all ten ninja shortly after the war, Masuta was right there, off to the side, even Ed and Edna were in there with everyone. "I mean… you said it was only you anyways… but there's really no one left?"

Wu walked over and sighed, pointing to everyone, "Ella was killed in action on a mission to Hiroshi's Labyrinth… Rosie… died a year or two back when some thugs broke into her house… she had a son... Tanaka adopted a boy and moved up north with the remainder of his family up there… his brother Crevan and his daughter Seliel live in a town in Birchwood where he's the mayor… Anthony moved away because of issues with his wife's side of the family; he had four sons and a daughter… Kasai and Namiko are married with two children in Ignacia… she fell ill and he's a busy blacksmith… so… I don't question why I hardly ever see them at all."

He stopped when looking at the proud and happy faces of his brother and sister in-law, you never would have guess they had been through so much judging by their wide smiles, "My brother… is gone… his wife ran out, moved away, disappeared from my life without much to say to me along with her son… and now I'm left here… alone…"

"What about your parents?" she timidly asked after that explanation.

"Mom died when I was… six I think… contracted some rare sickness on a mission… and my father passed on a few months before my nephew was born, so like, about five years ago" he gestured to one Namiko took of them, Misako in a hospital bed, holding Lloyd, looking to be asleep with his brother's head on the bed, definitely out of it as well. "The only technical family I know is alive besides them is my mother's sister… or, you might know Didi as Shen's step mom…"

"Oh right!" she nodded, remembering meeting her once or twice in her time living in Spinjago. "I'm sorry… you must be really lonely up here all the time… how did your brother die anyways?"

"He's… far from dead… he walks a very thin line now…" Wu mumbled, looking back at the black and green haired young woman. "It's been ages since I had company so often like this… Kasai… my best friend hasn't even been up this way in a long time, like I said…"

Sayu looked like she pitied him. It seemed that he had so much before, though it was all for show with his brother. He was surprised when she took his hand, "Is there anything I can do for you? I mean… I hate seeing people so… alone…" she quietly asked.

She was beautiful, about two inches taller than he was but he didn't care about that at all. "Yea well… you're… standing right here… so I guess I'm not alone right now…" Her pale gray eyes looked away from his; he could tell she was attempting to hide her blushing.

Sayu was so kind, just from the way he saw her treat other people, the way she talked. In a way, she was kind of like him, only far gentler and outwardly loving.

The next thing he knew, he was holding her to the wall, a hand at her waist and another on her boney hip, her fingers laced through his short, bleach blonde hair as she pressed her chest against his, mouths sealed against each other.

When they broke away, the two adults suddenly felt very self conscious, Sayu quickly pulling up her dress front that had been tugged down a bit during the short make out session. She continued to lean back against the wall, rubbing her shoulder with one hand. "C-can you please do that to me again?" she glanced up innocently.

Wu have never kissed a girl in his entire life, not like _that_ at least on the mouth. When he thought about it, he never even touched another woman in that manner. He was always so reserved with everything related to that, and embarrassed himself internally when he had the slightest thought about Misako like that, but it was one reason he may had also lost out on any chance with Misako. She was a very expressive person when it came to her affections and Garmadon provided the physical contact Wu didn't ever get the nerve to do.

He even started thinking about telling Sayu that he shouldn't do that again. It felt almost wrong.

But the thing was; was that he _wanted_ physical contact like that again. He could see why his brother and sister in-law always kissed and did other… sensual activities together constantly without caring who was watching. It was addicting once you had a taste of it.

Everyone knew him as the quiet, reserved, polite brother…

Maybe he should try being something else… even if it was a bit of a secret. He wrapped his arms around her waist, both with shy smiles.

* * *

><p>Lloyd was miserable. There was no other way you could say it. He tried, oh did he try, to get used to things at his new school, tried to get along and be good… but when you're bunk mate dumped fire ants in your bed and tried to be friends with you not two minutes later when no one was watching…you knew you were in for a wild ride. It seemed it would be quite hard to be 'nice' in a school full of literal cut throat toddlers.<p>

He also soon learned his knew 'friend' was named Brad Tudabone… which he tried so hard to not laugh out when he first found out, and was in fact one of the two boys who was quite rude to him on Halloween. His counterpart that was dressed as the devil that night? The infamous Gene DeVille… and he wasn't loving that last name either and it was rather fitting though when he thought about it.

The blonde looked out the window, wiping his eyes, being he was still tired because Gene may or may not have been snoring all night… again. Lucky for him, class didn't start for another ten minutes and it was just down the hall from the dorms.

His missed his dad, but more importantly; his mom. She was always there to make sure he would be taken care of and felt loved, even when she was exhausted and he could see she tried to hide her constant crying. Not to mention how she always tried to compromise when he asked to see his father. It looked so hard for her to do that every time.

Lloyd missed when she would cuddle him, read him bedtime stories, show him pictures from the days she and his father were warriors, or simply playing with his cat. She would always tell him how much she loved him and how he made her smile, or how much he looked and reminded her of his father. Even when she scolded him when he would be reckless or like those few times he had something with peanuts in it by mistake while treating him. She just wanted him to be protected against any harm.

He stopped himself after that though. _"What if mommy was scared of something and she wanted me to be protected? Maybe something bad couldn't find me here?"_

He started thinking that she left him there for good and he would never see her again because it was weeks and he never heard from her yet. Even more thoughts started running through his mind, _"Or maybe she thought I didn't love her and was sad and couldn't take it…? Or… or she always said I looked too much like daddy… maybe I made her sad by looking like him…" _it was a number of possibilities, none of which were actually true; Misako loved him more than her own life something petty like that wasn't going to stop her.

The bell rang, making the five year old flinch, coming out of his deep thinking. He sighed, grabbing his book bag and ran off down the hall before he could be yelled at for being late. He would still have to get used to living in a school for of children who were encouraged to be bad and mean towards everyone, even each other and more specifically; him, the newbie.

* * *

><p>Sayu was looking in the bathroom mirror, brushing her long, tousled hair, a tired smile on her pretty face, the front of her shirt not quite buttoned up all the way… in fact… it wasn't even her shirt to begin with. The young woman looked back to see that Wu was walking out of his room, past the bathroom she was occupying at the time.<p>

It was no secret to her that he loved another woman, his sister in-law no less, the girl he grew up with and knew literally his entire life. The way he looked at her picture the other day, she could see the faintest of light in his eyes spark when he talked even a little bit about her. She didn't know exactly what she was like, but whatever it was, he still kissed her first and not Misako. She wasn't a jealous type; she could accept she was not Wu's first choice.

When she walked out, Wu caught her by surprise from behind when she rounded a corner. She squealed a bit in surprise, hands wrapping around her waist and kissing her neck, both giggling uncontrollably. When they quieted down, Wu nuzzled her closely, "So… what's your element?" he whispered.

Sayu blushed red, "How… did you know I was-"

"An elemental?" Wu finished for her with a knowing smile, "Because being the son of First Spinjitsu Master and knowledgeable about all the elemental bloodlines… I think I know an air master when I see one… not many of your left… right?"

Sayu nodded, "Yea… We had seven clans… and I'm pretty sure there's not much of a remnant left… but I still have my mother and my sisters," she looked down, suddenly looking sad. "Guess I'm pretty alone myself to be honest… I never liked staying in one place for too long…" Without a warning she pressed her mouth against his, sharing another long kiss. "Well… maybe I could start getting used to that…" she whispered before they kissed again.

* * *

><p>Garmadon watched from the shadows. He didn't know how to feel, seeing his brother… being… <em>happy<em> while his family suffered around him. Here he was, separated from his wife and son, a life devoid of any love, warmth, and happiness, and here was Wu, making out with some woman he himself never had met before. There was a sense of jealousy, seeing how they acted and looked; it was evident what they did last night.

_"__Little brother finally got laid…" _the dark lord scoffed to himself. It was ironic, he lost everything he loved and Wu gained someone to love in the process it seemed. _"It's not fair…"_ he clenched his teeth, hands balling up into fists. It would be wrong to touch whatever relationship they had but the temptation was still there nonetheless to do something about them. _"He probably got her by pulling some stupid martyr tactic… make her feel sorry for him about being oh so alone…"_

He wandered into all the different rooms while his brother was distracted. His old room was barren, just a bed left in there and maybe some old pieces of furniture. He looked away quickly; this was the room he would spend hours with his best friend who would later go on to be his wife; talking, napping, playing, imagining things when they couldn't be outside and just being together. Later on it would serve as their first bedroom when they were married, where they made love for the first time and conceived their first child.

Ghosts of the past came back, haunting his memories, making him even angrier with his brother. He didn't even remember walking into the room that held the golden weapons. It was almost triggering to be back in that very room, flinching when he was getting flashes of what happened, remember how his heart had stalled for several seconds after being electrocuted.

"I could still do it… I could find a way to get those weapons… steal them right from under your nose while you're too busy making out with your new girlfriend…" he straightened up, smirking to himself. "Finally I can find something to order those idiots to carry out… I'll have to plan it right though…" his shadow form vanished from sight. "Have fun for now brother… because it won't last very long…"

**Poor Garmy... I want to hug you... I still love you my son, do not be angry ;~; **

**I actually don't have much to say... oh, I actually do, I've started my Christmas Special. It's gonna start around this time in November and lead into Christmas :3 It's going to continually follow the plot line for the Getting Back Together Universe I decided lol. I'm even planning more for that story. There will be a Simple Things prequel... just thought I would confirm that for you guys. Soon, idk when but 2016 for sure. AND I have an idea for a multichapter adventure... too many ideas, too little time. **

**So with that, I'm gonna assume many people know who Sayu is by now... if the green streaks weren't helpful, I revealed her element :3 **

**Uh, thanks for reading! See you guys later! :D **

**~Mar**

**(ps, I'll have a new chapter of In Another World out next week I believe)**


	114. Tales from Another Broken Home

Wu turned his face into his pillow, half awake at the late hour, one arm draped around Sayu's exposed waist as she pulled the blanket more to her side of the bed as she wasn't wearing much clothing. He tugged back though playfully, nuzzling her neck. She was pretty much fulltime moved in with him. It certainly made Wu happy to have someone living with him again, especially in the same bed.

"Wuu…" she squealed a bit, accidentally being tickled by the other who laughed as well. She enjoyed living on the mountain as well, where it was quiet and secluded, away from the busy and loud town. Not to mention, she loved how there was always a strong wind high above that you couldn't always feel below. She felt rather at home.

There was a loud clattering noise that broke the dead silence of the mountain top that made both adults sit upright, snapping them fully awake, heartbeats in their heads from shock, forgetting their little tussle for the blankets.

"What was that!?" she whispered loudly, glancing to Wu, pulling the blankets up more, over her nose.

"I… don't know…" the blonde scratched his jaw line and looked to the side of the bed, grabbing his robe, pulling it on quickly and grabbing his staff on the way out of his room. He found that the light to the weapon's room was turned on, "Oh no…" he rounded the corner and froze when he saw it was Samukai's right hand men… next to Whiplash anyways because they weren't smart enough, staring at him, bone claws each on a weapon. "HEY! Get out of my house!"

"HEY! You said he wouldn't wake up!"

"How was I supposed to know he wasn't a heavy sleeper?! Garmadon never told us that! You would think he'd warn us about something like this before throwing us in the line of fire likes this!"

"But he hates us, so is this really a surprise!? I bet he set us up like this!"

The two started bickering loudly and Wu slowly lowered his staff, seeing they were about as dangerous as a snail when he thought about it. The two Skulkin looked behind and hugged each other out of fear of what the dark lord's younger brother would do to them. He may not have looked very threatening, but he was strong enough.

The blonde ninja turned around when he felt that they were looking over his shoulder, but was pushed out of the way before he could. It was Sayu, "You heard him you idiots! Get out and leave this place!" she raised her arms, the wind blew the doors and windows open, a strong gust whipping through the whole monastery. "If there's one thing I never liked it was you cursed creatures… you troublemakers ruined so many people!"

Wu just stared in shock. She was soft spoken and sweet all the time, now her voice sounded rather dark and angry, her soft gray eyes glowed pure white and the green her hair glowed as well as she moved her arm in a swift motion, her robe billowing while the wind obeyed and swept the intruders away. When all was well again she practically collapsed as they heard the screams of terror as Kruncha and Nuckal were swept off the mountainside.

"Ugh… I did it again… damn it…" she held her head when Wu caught her mid fall, she could barely keep herself up. "Sorry… I'm sorry for making a storm like that… I… may have made a bit of a mess…" she apologized weakly, "I… tend to do that… it hasn't happened in a very long while though…"

The older man kept silent still and decided to carry back to the bed, just nodding at her apologies. "It wasn't the first time I saw someone lose control and do something like that… my brother had a tendency to do that an awful lot… to be honest, my sister in-law was pretty terrifying too when you would piss her off…" he warmly chuckled, remembering how she almost tore her brother apart after Lloyd was kidnapped.

"Mm…" she turned her face into his shoulder, looking exhausted.

"So you mind if I ask why you looked so angry at the sight of Skulkin?" Wu quietly asked, wondering. "Because I can understand if you don't like them… but you looked like they were the greatest evil in the world…"

"… my dad… he signed up to fight in that war… instead of coming back though… he was one of the few that died… by a lousy skeleton no less… it was a four armed one though from what my mom told me and my sisters… she also was in the war and left us behind until we heard word you had won…" she wiped her eyes, sniffing.

"Samukai is the one your mother described… he caused my family plenty of pain, one of the several reasons my niece is dead I believe… I completely understand your anger…" he nodded. "Mind me asking what his name was?"

"He was one of the older men, Soichiro…" she looked down. "And my mother was Emily".

"Oh… I remember… he died in an explosion the skeletons planted near the base… he was one of the scouts and your mother was the medic because my friend was pregnant and had to stay home…" Wu remembered. "Sorry to hear that he was your father… he was quiet and never spoke really… I was one of the leaders during that time… I was supposed to go on that routine checkup… I feel so horrible knowing that he left behind kids… was he where you inherited your air powers?" he pulled her closer in more of a hug.

"Yes… I was the only one of my three sisters who inherited his powers…" Sayu laid her head on his chest when Wu laid back down against the pillows. "At least I know a piece of him is inside me when he left…" she held one hand over her heart, looking down. "Before my mom even came home… only I knew something horrible must have happened… my sisters, Liza and Kimmie… they all said I was just worrying over nothing… he said when he got back… he would teach me our element… so I was left to do it myself…"

"That's how I feel about my father and I, I knew he was dying even though he assured me he was okay… he was only reason I decided to use only light powers to be honest… it's… a part of him I want to keep… he taught me plenty but there's so much he kept as well to have me figure out on my own…"

"You look exactly like him as well… it's amazing really… every time I look at a picture of him, I think he's you, even with the longer hair… wish I could have met him…" she told him. "I wish I met you sooner…"

"I wish so too, trust me…" he mumbled. "My father… He would have liked you I think…"

"Wu… what is it that _you_ like about me?" she suddenly asked out of left field. "Please tell me… you have yet to say other than how sweet I am to you…"

He was silent, shocked by the question. When she looked up again, his eyes were closed, he should have expected it to come up though. "Maybe you should just get some sleep Yui…" he combed a hand through her long hair, sighing. "You look and sound very tired…"

"Wu…" she sat up more, looking at him with prying, pale eyes, not accepting the silence he was trying to give her. "Come on…" she held his hands, "I… you know I … I want to know becau-" She kept quiet after that when he pulled her closer in response. Her throat ached to have words come out but she kept her mouth shut.

He rubbed his nose against hers, nuzzling her closer; deep in thought at her question. Why he loved her? Maybe even he didn't know the answer to that. All he knew was that it felt good to have someone like her around… maybe he was trying so hard to fill a void of wishing he ended up with Misako. Sayu wasn't as outspoken, but she had underlying strength while Misako almost flaunted it.

Wu felt it was wrong to keep silent and not give her a straight answer like this. He should just go through and confess already, it wasn't like Misako was coming around anytime soon to run away with him anyways. He shook his head. _"No… that's wrong to have her replace Misako in my mind… she's her own person and I can't start looking like she's 'just as good', she too kind to be treated like that… but she does kind of look like her, it's not like it's a lie, she knows it too I think… the shape of her face and eyes… even her nose is kind of similar… they could maybe be related... ugh…"_

Why couldn't he just answer her? Maybe being a little bit honest would relieve some tension, but he was too afraid to say anything like that. They ended up falling asleep though before he could think about it anymore.

Sayu opened one eye when she heard he was asleep, getting up from the bed to have time to herself. _"He's sweet… he loves me… but there's… something off…" _the master of air wandered into the library, looking at the other pictures she never really looked at. There was one of Misako when they were still teenagers. _"I see why he loves you Misako… you are beautiful… from the stories I heard, you were strong and caring and amazing…"_

_"__You led a war, you suffered through much… I know Wu has many regrets… but the biggest one he has is losing you to his brother… and I am okay with that…" _she looked down, folding her arms tight across her waist. _"We have shared features, but you're darker, stronger, and far prettier… I love Wu… I know you would encourage me to love Wu… he's so lonely, I think he's forgotten what love really is and what it means… maybe I'm even just a distraction for him… to take his mind off of you… he talks about you an awful lot though…"_

She flinched a bit, hearing Wu from the next room over turn in his sleep. He never came in so she shook her head and left, ready to go back and try to get some sleep. She stopped in mid step, leaning against the wall. _"Something's… wrong…" _she swallowed, her stomach hurt now.

The air master ran to the bathroom, locking the door and hoped Wu wouldn't wake up. After she threw up for the next ten minutes, she sat against the wall, on her knees and heavily breathing. "No… no no…" she was on the brink of tears, "this will be even harder…" she wiped her eyes before looking down. "It's come to this…" she stood up on her wobbly legs. "Wu…" she sniffed, "I'm sorry…"

She crept out of the bathroom, grabbing what little things she could in her bag and scribbled a note on the paper. "He can't know… he can't ever know… unless he wants to…" she folded up the paper and left it next to his bed. "I hope you find me one day… soon… for now… however long it takes for you to tell me why you love me… I'll wait for you… I'm not mad in the slightest… I hope you never think I was mad… the past months were amazing… but you need to straighten things out in your heart… find me if you need help because I will if you ask…" she hesitated before kissing his cheek and quickly leaving.

"I love you… and so does your baby, I know it… hope he'll meet you soon if you want to know…"

* * *

><p>Misako jumped out of her sleep as she leaned on her elbow, hearing the clock chime 2 am. She looked at the clock and yawned more. "Ugh… another late nighter…" Nina slinked by, stretching out on top of her papers. She wasn't exactly the biggest pet person, but she grew to love that little kitten so much, the same with her husband. "Come on Nina… I'll go to bed; you've made your point… let's go".<p>

She was up late once more being a couple of days prior, she found something special in the archives of the museum, something of which her parents had dug up decades ago, who knows how long before they passed on in the blizzard that killed them.

It was a medallion of sorts; gold, with strange looking engravings and meticulously placed holes. Misako knew it would have to do with lining something up in them. What it was, no one really was able to guess. In past papers and archival writings, there was a rumor about something called the 'Temple of Light' which was a beacon in the land of darkness, to give hope and rest to the weary warrior.

Misako smiled when Nina curled up next to her like she did every night since they took her in, she recently started to cuddle closer, since Lloyd was sent to school. Tomorrow, she would have to get up early if she was to get the permission paperwork that said she could do some excavation work at the old Stone Temple on the south side of Ninjago City. She hoped there might be other clues to help her.

"Goodnight Lloyd…" she murmured, "Goodnight Garmadon… I love you guys…" she slowly drifted off.

* * *

><p><em>Dear Wu,<em>

_I'm sorry you'll wake to find this. I didn't want it to be really hard, I know you would beg me to not leave, but I have to. I know I was not the first choice; I am perfectly fine with that because I only met you four months ago and you have known Misako your whole life. I know the stories, I understand, she is an amazing person. _

_I am leaving because, well, you need time to think about what and who you want. So I eliminated myself from the equation so that you will finally decide. Whether you wish to be alone, try to seek out Misako, or want to be with me, I will respect your choice. I will be waiting. If you do choose me, I will know and I will be very happy to come back because I do love you. I hope you really feel the same deep down. _

_So goodbye for now and maybe I'll see you again. Take all the time you need my dear._

_Sayu _

One thing that girl was, it was mysterious, just like wind she controlled with amazing skill. Wu just held his hands to his face after he read the letter, slipping a hand through his hair. "I don't believe this… I…"

"Seems like you can understand my pain perfectly now… _brother…_"

"Garmadon," Wu gasped, startled out of his anger and pain as he turned around to face the older sibling. "Go away!" he snapped. "Just leave me alone! I don't want to argue with you!"

"Admit it… you're guilty that you ripped me from my love because you know how it feels now… you really screwed it up you brat!"

"Did you orchestrate this?" Wu pointed to the gates, "Did you make her leave me by threatening something important to her and she's making up stuff!?" Garmadon chuckled and Wu felt anger burn more, "GARMADON! ANSWER ME YOU BASTARD!" he was done with being quiet.

"Geez…" the dark lord rolled his eyes, "I didn't recall threatening her or anything like that; or even meeting her… I just spy on you sometimes for my own curiosity… she is one scary kid, I will say that though… Kruncha and Nuckal told me all about her powerful element… the lady of the winds… my how you pick them my brother… but… like didn't foresee something like that coming?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh come on… she caught on about your puppy love… it's so painfully obvious. She _must_ have been blunt to a degree about it. You hurt her I bet… and now she's giving you a choice. It's not like you have a chance with my wife, even with me like this… she's isolated herself with me too… but besides the point; I'm personally not surprised… you are horrible at romance… you just used that girl to forget about the world you decided you don't like and it burned you right on the ass!"

"HEY!" Wu snapped angrily.

"Whatever, I'm not here to give you dating advice… all _I'm _here to say it… there is a storm coming Wu… and it's me… you will fall… and I will win, I'm done playing games and waiting around, sitting on my hands and accepting I'm just stuck here!"

He faded from sight, leaving Wu with even more of a mix of emotions than he had before. His brother was insane, that much was obvious for a while now. He knew what he would have to do now; he would have to hide the weapons so no one could ever get to them.

Sayu… I'll need more time… I'm sorry… I just…" he swallowed.

It was just him, and he had to accept it would always be that way. He didn't want to cause Sayu any more hurt if she stayed with him. That's what the universe wanted it seemed. He wasn't to know what it was like to love. It was just him. He was just Wu.

* * *

><p>That night, miles away, while Wu had set out to do just as he said he would, three sisters sat in Spinjago City, the elder hugging her middle sibling tightly who suddenly showed up at her apartment not an hour ago, crying her pale gray eyes out.<p>

"I don't believe this… he was just using you as a distraction!?" The older sister frowned more, taking her glasses off to wipe them. "What the hell is his problem!?"

"Yea!" the youngest of three shouted, "I mean, he sounds like a real jerk!"

"Liza… Kimmie…" Sayu looked at them both, on the brink of tears, "I-I left because I want him to choose me for real… and… he's just confused and doesn't know what he wants… so I…" she looked away, "He… I don't know how he would react to learning I'm carrying his baby…"

**Okay, two days late but hey, I was tired so... ya know. I tried to post last night but it was late and only an hour ago did I decide I wanted to change some stuff about this chapter... So now instead of back from Misako, Wu, Garmadon, and occasionally Lloyd, Sayu will be added to the mix and Kasai and Namiko will be receiving some spotlight soon. **

**And just saying... remember my OC Skyla? Well... her mom's name is Liza... owo... I'm not saying that she's Sayu's niece but... yea... haha... **

**sooo... sorry for the feels... but it had to be done and I regret nothing! Also, the title is based off the fifth leg of the song Jesus of Suburbia by Green Day (listen to it, it's an amazing song). In the American Idiot musical, Johnny's friend, Will, his girlfriend Heather reveals she's pregnant... so you know... thought of that... not to mention all the talk about death and broken up families in this one... between Sayu's dad dying, Misako and G and Lloyd being separated, the split with G and Wu, and Sayu leaving while pregnant... yea... a lot of break ups huh...?**

**Thanks for reading. I'll be at Universal Sunday with some friends for a birthday, so I might post the Christmas update on Saturday along with the next chapter of this. Just thought I'd give you guys a heads up :3 Later!**

**~Mar**


	115. Frustration

Liza and Kimmie stared at their sister with their own wide, gray eyes. They couldn't believe the words they were hearing from the middle child. Their quiet; well reserved; free spirited sister. "Yui… you're… you're pregnant!?" Liza gaped, holding a hand to her chest. "H-how? I… you both…"

"I'm about two months," the little sister wiped her eyes, "I just… you know how I felt about Wu… and then I threw up… and I knew it wasn't just some stomach flu… I could feel it…" Sayu clutched her stomach. "I didn't want Wu to know I was pregnant because then he would have felt an obligation to love me… I wanted him to choose for himself…" she sat back. "And if he didn't… then I would just have to care for this baby myself…"

"She's crazy… Lizzy she's crazy!" Kim shouted, gesturing to her second oldest sibling. "Tell her she has to go back and be honest with him! Yui, don't be a dingbat! You love him right?! THEN FREAKING TELL HIM! Run back, let him know everything! Don't play games like he did!"

"Okay," Liza pushed the other away more. "While Kimmie has a very sound point… though she explained it like a crazy person… this is your decision, it's his baby you got, he did this to you… you willing to make love with him is regardless".

Sayu just nodded at the much wiser words of her older sister. "Liz… I just… I kept telling myself… it was the last time… it was the last time… but I loved it… I never knew how amazing it was… to be honest… I feel betrayed… I opened up… I gave him my heart and… I don't even know how he really felt about me… or if he even realized how much I liked him…"

Kim sat back up, giving Sayu a warm hug. "Hey… it's okay… you'll just find someone else who will-"

"No…" Yui shook her head slowly, "I will never love anyone else again… My heart was broken… and I don't wish to risk that again… if Wu comes back and apologizes and tells me that I was more than an escape from his reality… then I'll go with him happily… but I have a feeling that he won't… and… I just feel horrible… I keep thinking I should just go back and maybe things will work out… b-but…"

Liza sighed, "Well… Stanley and I are hardly around these days and my daughter is always at school with all her clubs and stuff… so there wouldn't be much company for you…" she frowned.

"Stay with me," Kim spoke up. "It'll be great and you won't ever have to worry about anyone bothering you and you can stay with me for as long as you need to! Forever if you want!"

Sayu started full blown crying, even when Liza and Kim hugged her together. "I just can't believe this happened to me… I thought… I thought we could be happy, but he just… every time I asked… he changed the subject… I always hoped he was gonna marry me, but I guess that wasn't his intention!"

"Shh… we'll get through this Yu… it'll be okay… we'll help you and love that baby more than Wu could if that was how he really felt about you…" Liza wiped her own eye. "You shouldn't… you shouldn't cry so much… who knows how it will affect your baby…" she sniffed.

"I know…" Sayu tried calming down. "I… I'm okay… I'm okay… I promise thank you guys…"

* * *

><p>Wu walked down the trail, back to the village at the foot of the mountain he lived on with empty hands. No one dared to try and talk to him as he trudged through. He had been gone for almost a month now, hiding the weapons from his brother, trying to have that be his drive. He felt horrible about the whole Sayu ordeal; he could probably try to find her… Spinjago City wasn't <em>that<em> big. He knew that's where she would go back to.

"Maybe she doesn't even want to see me… I bet she was just trying to be nice about it or something…" he mumbled as he walked, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets. "Way to go Wu… you had the chance… you had a girl… and you just… I guess I can't learn from any mistakes I make… I'm horrible… she loved me… I could tell… it was obvious…" he wiped his eyes. "And what the hell did I do!? Keep my trap shut like I always did…"

He tried to forget. He would never forget though. Now that she was gone, every worry, every piece of guilt and pain came back to him tenfold. "I wonder how Misako is…" he never said those words in almost six months. He stared at his feet and the stone pathway, "I should have just asked Sayu right then and there to marry me that night… maybe she wouldn't have left… maybe if I just… she doesn't even deserve me after all of this…"

If Misako was there, she would scold him so badly, maybe a nice ass beating as punishment until he would turn around and go back to her. It was wrong how he and Sayu ended up and he knew it. She should have been far more than just a distraction for him or just a way to replace Misako. "I'm sorry… please… give me a second chance… that's all I'm asking here…" he looked up, stopping in his tracks for a brief moment. "I want to make things right… but…"

After the moment passed, he stepped it up once more, worrying about what snooping his brother would be doing while he was out of the monastery instead. He pulled out a crudely drawn map he made while on his trip and looked around to see if anyone was looking. "Now I just need to find a safe place to keep this I guess… can't keep it with me…"

He stopped again; biting his lip, "Maybe…" he turned around, running the other way as fast as he could.

* * *

><p>Garmadon was not in the monastery though. He knew what he brother was doing and it couldn't be helped. It was what it was and he would now have to track down where the weapons could be, or maybe just find the map he <em>knew<em> his brother made and was hiding somewhere.

On a side quest, he was still looking for his missing son. Misako said she wouldn't interfere or keep him from Lloyd if he did find where he was staying, but she wouldn't give him any hints either as to where he was. So he had several Skulkin agents search as many places as they could, and so far, nothing turned up… until today that was.

"Master!"

"What the hell is it now Chopov!?" he turned around, snapping angrily. "I'm not in the mood for the usual reports! I said yesterday don't you report a thing until it's actually progress!"

"Consider this then…" he handed him a picture, "looks like a school uniform… I never saw your kid, but he does look an awful lot like you… before… ya know…"

Garmadon shot him an angry look, but shook his head, "This is impossible, this can't be my son… Darkly's Boarding School for Bad Boys!? My wife would never want him to turn… out… unless she was hiding… of course she would put him somewhere I wouldn't expect!" he shook his head. "Damn that woman and her cleverness!" he hissed more to himself. "I'll be back later… I'm going out… Whyplash is in charge of you ninnies!"

"Yes sir!" the Skulkin with the biker helmet saluted right away.

* * *

><p>The green eyed woman unfurled map after map, but she couldn't find what she was looking for. "Damnit!" she growled. "There are no maps anywhere! Not even ancient ones…" she wiped her eyes, "How will I find the Temple of Light on the Dark Island if there's no pictures or drawings of it anywhere!" she kicked her desk hard, the medallion clattering to the floor. "Not even my parents could help me in the end…" she growled, slamming it back down on the table.<p>

For old time's sake, she pulled out Delilah's Journal. She could never get rid of such a book, even after everything that happened. Oh how it brought back the memories of fighting the Water Serpent, six armed men from the north, time ninjas and dark cultists, ice monsters, and skeletons. The days of Garmadon's rehabilitations and how he loved hearing her read the entries.

"I never thought I'd say this… but it was a much simpler time… fighting enemy after enemy… just us…" she wiped her glasses off, "Now I'm holding on to myths and false hope… like… some pathetic little girl wishing on the stars and praying to some gods who are probably not even up there!" she abandoned her work to flop over on the couch. "I wish I was dreaming so badly… I want to wake up to Garmadon's warm hugs… Lloyd whining for us to wake up…" she mumbled as she drifted off into broken sleep where everything could be happy and fine.

"At least I know Lloyd is safe for now… away from that horrible destiny…" she mumbled more in her sleep.

* * *

><p>Lloyd was hiding in a cupboard in one of the classrooms, covering his face and hoping no one would hear him quietly cry. It was a sign of weakness in a place like this and he could not let anyone know about this regularly occurring activity. "I want mommy… I want daddy…" he started uncontrollably crying.<p>

"LLOYD GARMADON!"

The almost six year old banged his head on the top of the cupboard being he jumped out of his seat. This time, it was a teacher calling though. "The principal wishes to see you in his office right now!"

He crawled from his hiding place and nodded quickly through his tears, "Y-yes sir!" he ran right past him to the office like he was ordered to do. He had no idea what could be happening to him. "Mmmaybe mommy's back and she'll take me away from this place… or… or…" he hiccupped but stopped in his tracks when he opened the door. "D-daddy!?"

The shadow on the wall responded by looking towards him, "Oh my son…" he breathed in relief that it really was him. "It really is you… it wasn't just some other kid after all…"

"Ah, so you were the amazing Lord Garmadon that your wife spoke of… a cursed dark lord… maybe there is hope for your son after all… nice to see your wife wasn't lying to me…" the principal smirked.

Garmadon growled, "She did this without my knowledge! I didn't even know he was here!"

"Sorry sir, but she instructed that if something happened to your son, we should call your brother first and foremost. She told me you weren't to know, if I remember correctly when I called her the morning he was dropped off…"

The shadow of Garmadon was shocked to hear that, "I… my brother?! So that's why she left him here…" he shook his head more. "Oh Lloyd…" he saw the boy walk over to where he was projected on the wall. "Mommy left you here did she?" he just nodded as a response.

"I'll leave you two be I guess…" the graying man walked out, shutting the door behind him as a courtesy. "When the bell rings in five minutes, you are to report to the next class!" Lloyd just nodded stiffly at the order.

"I want mommy!" he stomped his foot, snapping back to his father when the door was shut and they were alone. "Or… or can you just take me to the Underworld with you!? I hate this place and everyone's mean and…" he sniffed, eyes watering more. "I just hate it here! I wanna move back with mommy!" he started breaking down more.

"I don't have that power Lloyd… I want you come down here so badly too… but mommy was right… this is no place for a little boy to stay and live… you don't belong with me… and I know mommy has a reason for all of this… it's not fair to just-"

"I DON'T CARE!" he stomped more, throwing a tantrum that was long in the making. It was a complete meltdown, "I miss home and Nina and when you would play outside with me and when mommy comes home and makes dinner and takes me to the museum and you guys tell me stories about when you fought in the war and I wanna go home!"

Garmadon was happy Lloyd couldn't see him face to face because tears were streaming down his own face. "L-Lloyd… I… I want that so badly too… I am so sorry I made things this way… It's my fault you're here and… I want to go back in time and stop myself Lloyd, believe me… I'm sorry but you need to stay here… for however long it needs to be this way…"

Lloyd wiped his eyes and nose on the sleeves of his sweater, quietly crying now.

"Hey… buddy… I… don't worry… I'll visit… I promise… every second I can spare… and… and on Halloween I'll come back in person… that's in a few months, right?" he tried to help his son see the lighter side of things. "Please don't cry Lloyd… there has been too much of that and I don't want anybody here picking on you for that…"

"Promise?"

"P-promise what?"

"I can visit you sometimes?"

"Oh Lloyd… I… I don't know about that…" the dark lord scratched the back of his head, considering the thought. He looked back down to his son whose eyes were watering over again. "Okay okay… every once in a while coming down here couldn't hurt…" Lloyd looked a bit better after he said that. "Maybe next Saturday I can have one of my guards can take you down here… and… I can get to hug you again for real…"

The bell rang and the little blonde sighed, waving his hand, knowing he would have to return to class. "…Never forget who you are Lloyd… please…" Garmadon whispered when his son had left the room.

* * *

><p>Kasai opened the door when he heard the urgent knocking. He was shocked to see that it was Wu, face red and completely out of breath by the look of things. It was obvious he ran all the way there from the monastery. And that length was at least thirty miles.<p>

"You amaze me…" Kasai shook his head, stepping to the side. "What do you want with me, might I ask? If you're here to ask about Misako, I'm sorry, I'm keep my trap shut, she wants to keep to herself and her research… especially what…" he stopped himself. He knew where Lloyd was sent off to, but he wouldn't slip up and say a word about that in front of Wu.

"Kas?! Who was… at the door…" Namiko walked in, staring at Wu. "What do you want?" she swallowed.

"Two things…" he held his map up, "I hid the golden weapons where my brother could not find them… I need this to be kept safe… I had no idea who else I could turn to… please guys… I seriously need help with this…" he held it out to Kasai.

The blacksmith looked at the map, and then at Wu with hard, brown eyes. "Fine…" he swiped it. "I'll keep it… I promise it will be safe here somewhere… no one will ever know about…"

Wu bowed, "Thank you so much… I… I've been through a lot the past months to be honest…" he croaked. He heard the laughter and squealing of their two children outside which cued him to bring up the next topic, "Now… the second reason… Kai is the only descendant of fire…"

"How… do you know that it's Kai?" Namiko swallowed.

"Because… Kai has the traits… Nya has some as well… but I have this gut feeling it's him… regardless… I would like to train at least one of them… not quite yet of course… but soon I… I would like to try…" he looked at his feet. "If you say no… I understand…"

"If you think it would be beneficial… then fine…" Kasai firmly said. "I know this probably has something to do with a prophecy thing… yea?" Wu nodded quietly.

"KAS!" Namiko shouted. "You… no! Kai's to be a blacksmith I thought! It's all he and Nya talk about these days! They want to be like you… I don't… our kids shouldn't be dragged into this stupid world we grew up in… they should be normal… and not…"

"Nami…" Kasai slowly walked over to her, "We'll give Kai the choice… okay? When the time comes… either one… we'll give them the choice… and if they choose our paths instead of the one we actually want for them… then so be it… you and I will not interfere with their decision…"

"Okay…" she quietly nodded, hugging him. "Okay… of course…"

Wu walked over, "I'm sorry for… some wrong things I've done… I know I was wrong plenty of times… but I'm… I'm lonely… I had a girl… I liked her… and she liked me… and I screwed up… but I miss you guys… I miss everyone… I keep wanting to go back… to wake up and find we're all still children… but I can't… because we're all awake… and this damn world is going to be turned upside down…"

"Maybe Misako will find a way to stop it and fix everything…" Namiko sounded a little bit hopeful, looking at the other two. "S-she's smart… she always knows what to do," the brunette wiped her eyes. "Right?"

"Yea…" Wu mumbled. "Maybe… who knows…"

"We'll just have to wait and see… I'm sure once she figures out an answer, we can fix everything…" Kasai pushed his bandana back, wiping his forehead before looking back at his best friend, "Hey… stay for dinner." He abruptly brought up.

Wu shook his head, stepping back, "Oh, no, I can't-"

"You're my best friend; I haven't talked to you face to face in months and I kind of feel a bit bad about that," Kasai cut him off, punching him in the shoulder. "And you're staying for dinner". It sounded more like an order.

Wu smiled, nodding a bit, "You have convinced me then, I'll stay".

* * *

><p>Kimmie walked into the small, spare room, a hot cup of tea in her hands, "Storm's really bad today it seems," she looked out the window before looking back to her older sister who was lying down in bed, looking defeated and sad once more. "I… I was expecting you to be up during a storm with the windows open…"<p>

"The baby doesn't like it…" Sayu mumbled, closing her eyes when thunder roared again. "He'll never even know…"

"Shush you," the smaller girl sat down, setting tea down on the side table to cool for the other. "Soon your little guy's gonna be here and he's gonna make you so happy… remember how depressed Liza was when Stanley was with double pneumonia and the doctors said he had to be in the hospital all the time… and when she had little Skyla, she came back to life and everything turned out okay for her family!"

"I know…" Sayu kept her eyes closed. "I just… can't picture myself feeling like that again… you never felt what it was like… to feel loved and then to realize that it might have been… fake…"

"Well… just watch… you're gonna be just fine, tomorrow's always a new day… that's what daddy told us all the time… have you thought about names for the baby yet? Maybe it'll help take your mind off things!"

"It's a he… and… I don't know…" she buried her face in her pillow for a minute before mumbling something. "Mmmm…"

"Don't talk while smothering your pillow like that, I can't hear you… what did you say?" Kim scolded Sayu gently while opening the curtains more.

"Morrow…" Sayu answered. "I don't know… I like it… it's… different… for a name I mean…"

Kim nodded, "True, you don't see many Morrows, huh?" she smiled a bit, laughing to herself. "I'm going to the store, let me know if you want anything…" she got up.

"Okay…" Sayu turned on her other side, falling asleep again.

**Well... the Lloyd part was the most sad thing ever to write... but... I guess you can say there will be more Lloyd and Garmadon cuteness... hmmm?**

**And as for anyone who had concerns of my timeline what with the age of Morrow... I promise there's a plan and it's gonna all work out and hopefully everything will make perfect sense owo**

**Thanks for reading guys :D See you later :3**

**~Mar**


	116. Moving Forward

Wu always thought about training a new generation of ninja ever since he started thinking about the green ninja prophecy more. He liked the idea very much anyways, especially since his father died and he was left to his own devices. And ever since he lost Sayu and hid the weapons, some of the town kids would even climb up to the mountain, asking him about stuff and even want to 'train'.

He wasn't exactly sure why they would; maybe they felt sorry for him that he lived all alone or their parents told them that anyways. He still had his plans to find Cole first and then track down the other kids of the three core elements he would need; only then would it would be safe to retrieve the Golden Weapons. If they had someone to use them, he wouldn't have to worry twenty four seven about who might try to steal them.

And thinking about the hiding place of all those weapons, Wu started to feel some guilt for hiding the map at Kasai's shop. Garmadon might be able to guess it was there and knowing Kasai, he wouldn't go down without a fight… even if that resulted in his death. Not mention it was getting harder and harder to wonder if his older brother still had willpower to not kill someone on the spot, friend or foe. He had all the power he had wanted… and yet he wanted more still.

Kasai was thick headed beyond belief and was as reckless as an untamable forest fire, he always had been since the first day they met when he dragged Wu off after he stole precious sweets from a little shop in town, and they hid out in Namiko's bar until Garmadon and Misako could find him.

Kas was tough though, which came with the blacksmith job as well. He could at least count on Kasai and Namiko to never breathe a word about a hidden map or weapons and go about business. He just hoped he would never take their friendship for granted. They could be loyal to a fault to their friends.

Wu looked at old family trees again, stopping when he realized he recognized a name close to the end of the list, "Edna James…" he slapped his forehead, "STUPID!" he shouted. "It was Ed's wife all this time!? She's a… she's in one of the last remaining lightning bloodlines?!" he ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head. "I know they have least one kid…" he sighed. "It's been a while since I talked to them though…" he looked at an old picture of the main squad that locked up the Serpentine, their faces were right in there with Wu and Kasai, beers in everyone's hands as they were celebrating a great victory.

He flopped on his bed, too tired to think about anything else right now. He would probably call them when he got the next chance.

* * *

><p>Sayu screamed. She was lying in her bed, her sisters with her as Liza was visiting when she went into early labor and on top of that, she was sick. "Yui, you're almost there…" Kim tried to quiet her down. "Come on now, it'll be over soon".<p>

The air master clenched her teeth as she gave her final push. "Good job little sis," the oldest of the three straightened up, holding a whining infant in a dark colored blanket. "He's on the small side… but… he looks okay as of right now… Sayu?" she looked up when the middle child wasn't responding. "YUI!?"

Liza passed the infant to Kim and quickly checked her pulse, "I think she just passed out from stress to her body, but her pulse dropped a bit… not by much though" she propped her pillows up for her and went to the bathroom to find something for her fever in the cabinets. "She should be okay… between being sick and an early delivery like this, she's pretty out… not to mention her depression as it is…"

The youngest looked down at her nephew, "It's okay… you're mom is fine… she needs to rest too right now… Morrow… you'll be okay… we all love you… and we promise you'll be okay and well taken care of…"

They could at least tell he had black hair, the tiniest strip of green could be seen in it. "Wow… he… looks absolutely nothing like the father…" Liza came over to see him officially. "Yui showed me a picture of him, Wu I mean… his skin's a bit darker and he was blonde with blue eyes… but Morrow got none of that…" Morrow turned; one eye barely opening. "He looks exactly like a male version Sayu… wow…"

"Morrow…" the two turned when they heard a soft voice. The mother of the baby was waking up. "Where is he? I wanna see him… it he okay?"

"Yui… Yui, look… he's you spitting image…" Kimmie quickly went over to show her sister her own baby. "Here… he's okay and he's so cute too!" she cooed, sad to have to release the infant.

"My Morrow…" Sayu could barely sit up but let him suck on her finger. "I love you so much…" she sniffed. "Look at you… so beautiful… I love you… I really do… I don't know if you and your father will ever meet… but I hope he will regret leaving us behind to keep to himself-" she coughed, covering her mouth. "All I can promise is that I love you no matter what… and maybe… Wu would too…"

The other two in the room looked at one another. Liza hugged herself, "I'll have to monitor her… it would be best if we brought both to my practice back home…well… we'll be moving to Ninjago City soon because of something with Stan's work so… I would hope she could come with us… if she stays at the new place, I might be able to do more than if she stays behind here with you…"

The youngest sister had a strange, dark look on her face when she realized what the other was subtly trying to say to her, "You don't think she's gonna be okay… do you?" There was a moment of silence as Liza looked taken aback by the direct question. Kimmie was always on the lighter side of thinking, an optimist much like Sayu was… before her heart was broken anyways... "First daddy and now her…"

"Morrow looks quite fine and healthy aside from being a bit early… but Yuyu? I don't know what's gonna happen to her at this point… I think her days are numbered Kimmie… and all because of this Wu ordeal I'm more than certain of… Yu says she loves Morrow and doesn't want to ever leave him… but I think her willpower is silently giving up and she just won't admit it," she turned away, leaving the room before Kim followed her out. "I… I just hope I never have to meet that man… he never even came back for her, not a call, not a visit to see how she was… I don't care if he's the father of that baby… he is no family…" she bitterly muttered.

* * *

><p>Lloyd followed the Skulkin down the long and semi-familiar corridor that led to the Underworld and his father's dark and dimly lit fortress. He broke into a run, past the skeleton, hopping into Garmadon's arms at the first sight of him.<p>

"There you are… I was worried as to why it was taking so long and wondered if you ran into trouble…" he started kissing Lloyd all over his face, smiling. "So… come on… I wanna hear everything that's been going on since I was last there…" he smiled.

Finally, they were able to be together whenever Lloyd felt like visiting, even staying over on the weekends some days. They could talk more freely in the Underworld where his teachers and peers couldn't hear him complain about them all and how he dreaded every day he spent with them.

"And then, a food fight broke out, but me and Brad managed to duck, and the pudding sailed right over our heads and into Gene's face! And he had to wash his hair like, five times before he stopped smelling like chocolate!" the five year old laughed, proud of his expert dodge that took place just the day prior. "And Gene was so mad his face turned redder than his hair!"

"Little brat had what was coming to him then at last," Garmadon chuckled, ruffling his son's hair. "It's nice to see you're at least getting along with one boy… I hope it stays that way, a friendless life is a horrible one… believe me…"

"Mommy said that you were her best friend… I thought you were married though… friends can't love each other like that!" he protested against the words of Misako.

Garmadon shook his head, still smiling, "What do you think mommy and I were before we got married? We were best friends… and even after… you didn't come along until much later in our lives… but as her friend… not just as the guy who loved her, we just wanted to go two days without almost dying… we just… enjoyed being together…"

Lloyd was quiet after he said that, allowing his dad to explain more, "Lloyd… mommy… never told you this… but a long time ago… back when she was still pregnant with you… I almost killed myself… I was a mess… I didn't want to live… I wanted to drop out of life even though I knew she would be all alone forever with you… I have done things Lloyd… things that… just add on to why I must be down here I'm sure… I don't want you to be like me… do you understand?"

"But you're all big and strong and scary! People wouldn't bother me ever if I was just like you!" he laughed at the idea.

The dark lord sat up, sitting Lloyd on his lap, looking sternly at the boy, "Listen here you: you do not want to be just like me… it is not worth all the pain and suffering I have gone through to get here… if you want to be like someone… you should be like mommy-"

"But she left me!"

"Lloyd… she is so kind… so full of love I cannot begin to explain how much _I _love her for that. She helped me through so much and I may not agree with her leaving you at Darkly's or that she said she needed to stay away from me… but do not resent her for that… she had a reason for everything she did and was wiser than all of us… maybe even smarter than my own father… and I know she knows there is something she is failing to tell us… she looked very scared the last time I saw her… I just wish she would confide in me again… but we all must choose a path…"

"Yea! And I choose to be like you!" Lloyd shouted at him, annoyed since his dad didn't listen still.

"NO! Lloyd… when I was kid… Lloyd, don't you get it? I didn't choose this… I was not fortunate enough to get the choice that is before you!" he ended up sighing, giving up on trying to explain this to his five year old child. "One day, you will understand, and I hope I will be around to see that you make a good and right choice…" he hugged him.

"Why?" Lloyd quietly asked as they hugged.

"Because I tried so many times to make a choice like that… every time it just blew up in my face… " he kissed the top of Lloyd's head. "I love you Lloyd… at least I have a choice in that…"

"Love you too…"

* * *

><p>"You're going to burn out if you don't start getting proper rest!" Sonia poured tea into several cups. "I thought you invited us over to just relax and not focus on work for one day in your life! Not mumble and read off prophecies in old stone language to us!" the chestnut haired woman finally walked over to the older historian and swiped her papers from her. "Sit down and drink the damn tea!"<p>

Misako had no choice now. Namiko was keeping quiet and letting Sonia do the talking and pushing around. "Okay okay… I'm sitting!" she plopped down at the small table. "Happy now!?"

"Yes," Sonia nodded once. "Now that you are away from the papers and the desk and can coherently talk… what is it that you have been working on anyways? You're so quiet about it… all I hear is gibberish…"

The oldest woman leaned on her elbow before pulling out a medallion from her shirt, "My parents found this on the same excavation they died in when I was a teenager… Ben gave me this and allowed me access to all my parents' archival findings in the basement storage of unfinished work… and they all have to do with Garmadon and Lloyd…"

"Whoa whoa there; what do you mean by that?" Namiko's brow furrowed as she further questioned.

"Lloyd… is the green ninja… Garmadon is the Dark Lord… and it's one or the other unless I figure out what all this old research means… so far I don't know what this Temple of Light has to do with anything over than the green ninja mastering the Art of the Dragon… which will make him the next Ultimate Master… but it doesn't exist on any map… how the hell can I find this!?" she sighed as she explained more. "I think that… there can be a way to avoid the whole ordeal…"

"Hey, you'll work it out… anything you decide to go after you normally succeed in… in case you have forgotten," Sonia patted her hand, "Believe me, Namiko and I think you're gonna find all the answers you need…"

"Well, I certainly hope you guys around right about that…" Misako smiled just a little bit. It was almost a year since all of this fell through and their lives were a mess. It was an effort, but she was surviving it all so far. She just hoped this wouldn't be all in vain.

**There, have Lloyd and Garmadon bonding! But you also get sad Sayu stuff hahaha**

**I don't have much more to say though so, thank ya very much for reading! :3**

**~Mar**


	117. Forgive Me

Time did what it always did, pass. Nothing more, nothing less. Through good days and bad days, time would just keep on passing by. About three years to be exact.

Lloyd was eight now. He was learning how to survive in the school called Darkly's. He wasn't anything like Gene and his little followers, but he was now known to be a little troublemaker and now that it was known that his father was the ruler of the Underworld, he was starting to get just a bit more respect because they knew Garmadon could do something terrible to them.

All Lloyd could think about was proving to his father that he could be just like him, to show up everyone that he could make something of himself, well... maybe he was trying to prove to his principal that he deserved to not be expelled. He seemed to be skirting the line some days, but he managed to do fine in his classes.

But, instead of being the victim of ridiculous pranks, Lloyd was actively throwing them right back. Just the other day, he and Brad laced practically all the waffle batter with chili powder, sending every student into a confused frenzy, leaving the new friends to laugh at their misery.

When Garmadon heard about this, he didn't quite… feel right about it. He couldn't help but think his wife had made a horrible mistake, letting their boy turn into a little monster, though he was sure that wasn't her prime intention. But he also couldn't be angry with her for this choice, he knew that this was probably a bit of torture for him, to watch their sweet son turn so rowdy and troublesome... like he was… It took a while for him to realize that this must have been how Misako felt growing up with him, seeing him turn to darker and darker ways. Now he was witnessing that with his own boy.

Lloyd stopped talking about his mother to him or to anyone for that matter. He learned to live with this and decided he probably didn't want to see her again, forever even, or maybe he simply just… forgot about her altogether. What she looked like, how she sounded, how they spent so many nights comforting one another when Garmadon was gone, laughing, working, playing, it was all fading. His father wasn't sure if he should even talk about Misako to him. All Lloyd seemed to address about her was the sweater he loved so much that she gave him.

Misako was afraid to go back because of all this. She knew that after the first couple of weeks, he would just grow to be angry with her, even if she did go to see him as often as she could. She was afraid to hear him shout and stomp about how he hated the school and worse yet, maybe even say that he hated_ her_ for doing this. So she removed herself from the equation.

"I made my choice… Garmadon made his… and Lloyd will finally make his soon…" she stared at the desk, lost in thought. "One day I'll go back… when everything is okay again… and hopefully you'll understand why I do these things… and we can all just put this mess behind us… because we will find each other again Lloyd… forgive me…"

She mindlessly played with the medallion between her fingers as she chewed on her pen, reading over more decryption codes. "Hmm…" she perked up a bit. "Legend of the Bottomless Pit… and those… must be coordinates… that's what those numbers were…" she took her pen out of her mouth, "I wonder if I could find one of those Stone Warriors that were in the first battle…" she smirked, finding something at last to focus on next. "Hang in there guys… I'll solve this whole stupid puzzle in no time…"

* * *

><p>Morrow was fine; he was a perfectly normal three year old… though with one side affect to his parentage. Sayu laughed as her long hair blew upward from the sudden and small gust of wind. "My; what a powerful master you are," she ran a hand through his black and green hair. "I can see it now… Morrow; the master of the wind!"<p>

The toddler laughed a bit at her comment. "I'm gonna be a ninja!" he raised his hands up in the air excitedly.

"Okay, okay, visiting hours are over… sorry guys… Yui needs to rest, so I'm gonna have to kick you out sweetie," Liza walked inside, Kim behind her.

"Come on kiddo, let's go, we can come back tomorrow and stay all day long if you want, say bye bye to mommy! You can see her again tomorrow! Don't worry sweetie!" his younger aunt picked him up, though he was still reaching out to his mother, whining at the stupid rules.

Sayu waved even more sadly, seeing her sister carry her son out of the room. "I'll… I'll see you tomorrow my little one… then you can show me what else you can do". She held a hand over her chest, where her heart was, letting out a slow breath.

When Morrow was out of the room she fell back onto the pillows, closing her eyes. "You look,,, spent…" Liza commented, tying her sister's hair up for her. "Morrow's a good boy but I think he's wearing on you… I can't imagine how you would be doing if you were caring for him yourself…"

"I _am_ fine… I'll be out of here in no time…" Sayu coughed. "I…I'm sure of it…" she trailed off.

"Yui, you've been in here for almost a whole year… you honestly think that?" Liza frowned. "Double pneumonia is not something that just goes away and gets better super fast… not to mention you managed to catch the flu twice while you've been here… it's just prolonging things…"

Sayu looked down, a fingers toying with her long ponytail. "I promised Morrow I would be back home soon… I doubt it sometimes though… what do you think?"

"I can't confirm or deny yet, and you know it…" the oldest's face scrunched up in frustration, "You'll get better when you get better and I can't change how your body reacts to sickness… you better hope you don't catch something else or else you might not ever be able to get out of here…" Liza sighed, "I'm sorry… it's really hard for me to see you like this… and for Morrow to whine everyday when he has to go home… I feel so bad…"

"I know… thank you for everything though…" Sayu closed her eyes, sadly smiling, "Hey… when I'm gone… make sure… Morrow gets to meet his dad…"

Liza dropped her mug that she just picked up, staring at the younger woman in silence. "W-what?!" why would she something like that if she was promising her son to get better?

"Yea… when I die… I don't care how you do it… but I decided… I want Morrow to know him… as my will… Morrow is the only thing I have… and I want Wu to know he exists… and to know I love him so much… I always did…" she opened her watery, gray eyes. "Can you promise that Liz? That he will know?"

"Are you insane!? Do you have a fever or something!?" Liza growled, feeling her sister's forehead to find it was so, "how dare you even say that! He left you!"

"But I left him… that was a mistake… I'm sure of it now…" she turned her head. "Maybe it would have all worked out if I did stay… maybe I would be fine… and we would all be happy and together… I miss his hugs… he was so cuddly…"

"No! It wouldn't have worked! Do you even hear what you're saying!?"

"You never met him… how could you even have an opinion on this beyond what I told you?" the mother looked away from her sibling's angry glare listlessly. "He was a kind soul… he lost so much… he just wanted to forget about it all… I forgive him for everything he didn't say… I'm sure he wanted to say it… maybe he just forgot how to express feelings correctly… I could have helped him… but I just ran away from the problem…"

"Okay… just stop it right now you!" the doctor snapped. "You're gonna be fine, you've been better! You said so yourself that Wu liked some other girl more!"

Sayu coughed more, seeming to ignore the other woman, her chest ached, "No I won't be fine… you even know that's a lie… When you take Morrow to the monastery… make sure Wu knows what happened to me… and that I'm sorry I kept Morrow from him… I was scared and I acted irrationally… and I'm sure Wu was very confused about his feelings… it seemed like he always had… I was too… but all I know is that I loved him…"

"YUI!" Liza shouted again.

"Tell Kimmie I'm also sorry I had to leave my Morrow with you guys… I know she'll love him just as much for me though… tell your daughter that I'm sorry I'll be missing her thirteenth birthday… most of all… tell Morrow I'm sorry I had to go too… but I just can't keep going on… I'm sick of feeling like this all the time, being in pain… I'm not getting any better… and this is only dragging it out more than it has to… it's no life… I'll tell dad how much you love him…"

Liza was about to shout something else but she heard the familiar flat line beep on the monitor they had for her breathing. "Yui?" her eyes widened. "YUI?!" she started shaking more when she received no response. "Oh gods…oh my gods no!" she covered her face. "She's… she's really gone…" Liza looked away, covering her mouth; she was going to be sick.

* * *

><p>Wu didn't know why, but when the sudden cold breeze blew by him, he felt something was wrong. It wasn't like anyone was following him, but like, some looming guilt was hanging on his shoulder. He looked at the trees and bushes around him and nothing else seemed to be caught up in the breeze, just him. "What… does that mean?" he blinked, deciding to turn around and head back up the mountain.<p>

He knew one thing for sure and that was that his brother was definitely not following him around. He hadn't in quite some time. Other than the occasional raid of Skulkin in random towns, you didn't hear anything about Lord Garmadon. Most people even called his brother nothing more than a myth you would tell to scare bad children.

But every time the wind hit only him, he thought he heard Sayu's voice saying something to him. It scared him in all honesty; he never felt this scared before over anything. It was like she was following him suddenly, but he knew she was nowhere near him, it was impossible, she left and he would never find her again.

_"__I love you Wu…"_

He almost jumped out of his skin when he heard that, whipping around when he reached the gates of the monastery. "Whoever thinks this is some funny joke, I'm not laughing!" he snapped, grabbing the handle of his katana, looking around more as he stepped up the long staircase that was carved into the mountainside. A more gentle breeze hit him again, this time it smelled different, like apples. That was when he first met her, when their hands touched, that's what she always smelled like to him.

_"__Bye Wu…"_

"Sayu!?" he breathed, looking around but like he thought, it was impossible for anyone to be near him. "I'm sorry… I'm still so sorry…" he pushed his way inside, shaking his head, hoping she wasn't following him around secretly. "Everything is fine…" he mumbled to himself, "I'm just tired… and hearing things…" he wiped his eyes as he hurried in doors, more wind howling outside this time.

**Ahem... well... that happened... and yeeea... Skyla is Liza's daughter... in... case I never said it... I don't think I did... I don't remember. Okay so Morrow's three... I promise you'll see what happened soon with I'm doing it like this...**

**I think it's safe to say that this story is wrapping up for reals now... Morrow is gonna be the last real arc of the story and then I just have loose ends to tie up. If it wasn't for adding the Morrow section, I would probably be finished with this whole crazy story... but no... I extend things because may or may not secretly hate ending things... it makes me sad... but I have to because this is just dragging on for almost 2 years now and it's about time I had a proper ending! Y'know?  
><strong>

**Thanks so much for reading, like the title of this chapter, forgive me, Sayu had to go... you can all burn me at the stake later though, because I think you want to see how I'll end this long af story. Later my friends!**

**~Mar**


	118. A Turn of Events

Morrow didn't understand what his aunts meant by gone. His mom was gone? But he had just seen her hours earlier and was fine! He just kept on insisting that his mommy could not possibly be gone because she promised she was coming home soon. Liza grew frustrated all the more, especially since she knew Sayu wanted her to take Morrow to Wu.

"What are you gonna do about this? You know what Sayu wanted… you know she wants Wu to know about everything that happened to her… so… are you gonna do it or not Liz?! Am I gonna have to!?" Kim folded her arms, looking at Morrow who was currently asleep.

Liza looked back to her remaining sister with cold eyes, "No way in heaven or hell am I gonna let that idiot see his kid… he didn't deserve Yui's love and forgiveness… I don't want Morrow to know him ever Kimmie, do you understand!? You're not gonna go behind my back either with this!"

The youngest blinked at the strange response. "But… Sayu wanted-"

"Sayu didn't ever know what she wanted! Don't you get it!? Neither knew what they wanted and look what ended up happening? Yui's dead and they left a poor little boy behind! Now; I'm gonna be in charge when it comes to what Morrow is gonna do!"

The small boy opened one eye, hearing his two aunts arguing back and forth. _"Father? My dad is alive?" _he thought. Sayu only ever told him that he wasn't with them since before he was born. He closed his eyes again when Liza looked back at him to make sure he was still asleep. If he was to stay with them, he would never find his dad or be able to do anything it seemed.

The almost four year old never went to bed that night. No one knew where he would go; he was quiet and light as the air he could control like his dear mother. "Mommy is gone… so I need to do something… aunt Kimmie said she wanted me to meet my dad…" he sniffed, wiping his watery eyes, looking over his shoulder. "Maybe I'll come back after I find him…" he shook his head and started off again.

* * *

><p>Lloyd ducked behind the teacher's desk, Brad at his side. "Gene is so pissed dude…" Brad swallowed. "What are we gonna do about this one!? We're gonna get busted for sure… you know Gene's dad donates a lot of money here… when the principal finds out we just dumped rotten, moldy milk on him and his underlings… geez… we're gonna get the boot for sure…"<p>

The blonde chuckled, looking back at the freckled boy, "Ha, well, my dad is Lord Garmadon! Let's see him try to kick me out of this school! He'll burn this place to ground if someone does that to us!"

Brad shook his head, "I just hope that I won't hear about this from my parents… they're friends with Gene's and keep expecting me to get along with him because of some company deal I think…" he scratched behind his ear.

Lloyd frowned more at the explanation his friend gave him. Of course there would be something like that. Lloyd finally made a friend and already that was being compromised. "Like my dad always says… people like him need to be put in their place!" he stood up on the desk. "Hey Gene, catch us if you can you jerk!" he laughed loudly and took off, Brad hesitating, but following nonetheless.

The two children were much faster than the group of five that traveled behind them. "I can't wait till I get you expelled Garmadon!" Gene shouted after the green eyed boy. "You're gonna regret ever stepping foot in this school!"

Most students learned this was almost a weekly routine; Gene would be a snot nosed know it all, Lloyd and Brad would keep to themselves and eventually get shown up in class by him, and then the two would pull some prank on Gene which would later result in a chase that would last the whole day.

The teachers learned that every Tuesday, they would make popcorn and watch the show, apparently proud of their little troublemakers while other kids would set up cameras and 'report' on the week's game. Some would even place bets along with the other, older students about who would win this time and get detention or some other duty.

Brad pulled Lloyd into the nearest locker room where they managed to catch a breath or two. "I don't know how much more I can take of this…" the black haired one mumbled. "Gene's gonna do something really bad this time I think… and I also think everyone else watching wants something like that to happen too…"

"Hey… dodge balls…" Lloyd pointed behind, smirking, "I got an idea… help me set this net up and we can fill it with the balls…" he started grabbing a few.

His friend chuckled, starting to be a bit more optimistic, "I like the way you think sometimes… do you know that? You can think out of any problem like this… huh?"

Minutes later when Gene decided to check the locker room closet where Brad and Lloyd ran into, he was met by dozens of bouncy, dark red balls that knocked him and his own friends flat on their backs. Brad and Lloyd ran out past them, high fiving as they retreated to their dorm room, it was clear that they were this week's victors.

"HAH! Told you those two would figure something out! You owe me twenty James!" a darker haired teacher laughed, poking at one of her coworkers who begrudgingly passed her the money that he had bet. "Thank you!" she snickered again.

* * *

><p>Lloyd had climbed up to Brad's bunk where they were lying down, heavily breathing and relaxing from all the running they did. "Bet Gene's crying his eyes out in the nurse's office!" the blonde wheezed between giggles. "Let the principal try and expel us! We're evil prodigies!" he closed his eyes.<p>

"Yea…" the brown eyed friend buried his face in his pillow, feeling like sleeping himself.

The door suddenly slammed opened, it was the principal. He never came into the dormitories unless someone was in big trouble…

The two seemed to not be tired anymore as he marched in, motioning for them to come down silently. "I just heard about what you brats were up to today from all the teachers in the lounge! You really become weekly entertainment for everyone around here, haven't you!? My math professor was just crying about losing his entire week's paycheck to the history teacher…"

"We're sorry! Please! We'll stop fighting with Gene!" Brad cried, getting on his knees.

The principal blinked, "What!? NO! That's not why I'm here you idiots!" Both blinked and the older man rolled his eyes, "Do you remember… last year, there was a competition between us and four other schools in Ninjago? And I said no one under ten could join…? It was traveling to another school who was hosting the competition?"

Lloyd and Brad slowly nodded, vaguely remembering such events.

Mr. Darkly smirked deviously, "We're hosting the games this year boys… and I think I decided who I want to be a part of my team".

"US!?"

"You two, Gene, and a couple of the older boys maybe… but only because you three are stupidly fast and seem to have endless energy and ideas to sabotage the other… and I can use that against the others this year… be thankful you got lucky this year… especially you Garmadon!" Lloyd flinched. "The other teams will be coming next week… and I hope you will not fail because we haven't won this stupid competition in almost a decade! If you do lose us the victory, you're all gonna be expelled!" he snapped.

Lloyd and Brad stared at one another now that their principal was gone. "He can't be serious! We'll be some of the youngest players! One year, a kid had to go home in an ambulance!" Brad covered his mouth, remembering such an event, "And he was one of us! Other schools hate us and think we're weaklings and go even harder on you the weaker and smaller you are!"

"Hey!" Lloyd snapped now, flicking Brad between the eyes, "We got this! I think I can even stand to work with Gene as a team if it means I get to not be kicked out of here…"

* * *

><p>Morrow didn't exactly know what he was getting himself into when he decided it was a good idea to simply leave his aunts' house. The poor thing was gone for almost two weeks and here he was, alone, tired, cold, a bit hungry even. The part that hurt the most was that no one really seemed to give him a second glance or care much that he was alone.<p>

He missed his mother more than anything in the world. She was always so gentle to him, so sweet.

The poor toddler sat on a curb, lowering his head, thinking about going back home where Liza and Kimmie could at least take care of him... if he could even find a way back.

"Come on! I heard Wu's home! He said that he was gonna show me kendo!"

"Ugh, all the way up the mountain!? Fine… just because he's so cool… I mean, he lets anyone come up and hang…"

"Wu?" Morrow tilted his head. "Hmm," the child decided to follow behind the others, keeping his distance though, afraid they would be mean to him or something because they were older.

* * *

><p>Wu peeked out when he heard the knocking. "Well… didn't expect any of you would be back so soon… I only came back two hours ago… news travels fast I guess… Haku, Kyla…" he said each name, counting the five kids off as they stepped in.<p>

"Where did you go this time anyways!? You were gone like… a week or something!" one of the boys asked.

The graying man looked back at the kids and smiled, "I happened to encounter an old foe of mine who was making quite a mess of a small town… Cardinsto, the nature wizard!"

"Whoooa…" all six said in awe. Morrow blinked as he listened on, still hiding. "He was the first villain you ever faced right!?"

"Yes, but my father bailed me and my friends out of that one," Wu tossed each child a wooden sword, "Go on, go over what I showed you last time while I make tea…" he trailed off, looking back to the gate. "Did… someone forget to close the gates?" he looked over to two of the girls who just shrugged.

When the blonde opened the gate to look out, he spied a small figure hiding behind a garbage bin. He came face to face with a small boy. He looked like he was staring at a ghost. Morrow looked up, scared before starting to run down the steps, a hand flying back, pushing a gust of wind, hitting Wu. The wind suddenly passed his ear, _"Go after him… don't let him go…"_

"Wait!" Wu instinctively shouted, starting down after him. "I… who are you? What are you doing all the way up here?!"

Morrow looked down, leaning against the mountain, almost looking shy, "M-morrow…" he mumbled. Those eyes, that hair. Wu could feel this strange sensation in the back of his mind.

"P-please, just come back up… no one's gonna hurt you up here… you look cold... and hungry…" he offered a hand to the young boy. "Are… you all alone?" Morrow nodded. "No family?"

"I ran away from my aunts… I… never knew my dad…"

"And… your mother?" Wu bit his lip, a sinking feeling coming over him.

"She… she's gone… more than a week ago…" he could see the well of tears springing up in the three year old's pale colored eyes.

Wu held a hand to his face, trying to withhold anything he was feeling. He knew who Morrow's mother was, it was plain as day. It had to be, that green streak in his black hair, no one else he knew had one. It was genetic too obviously. And it was no mere coincidence that wind hit him when Morrow threw his hand in his direction.

Morrow finally agreed to come back up after a few more minutes of convincing. Wu dismissed the kids who were sad to have to leave so soon after they only just got there. He needed to be alone with Morrow though. He sat the boy down inside, offering him a cup of tea. "Now… please… how old are you? What has happened to you?"

The young master of the wind, stared down into the tea, "I'm three… almost four… my mommy… she died… and my aunt… Liz said that mommy wanted me to meet my dad… but she didn't want me to… so I ran… I figured he must be around somewhere… I… I bet he doesn't even want me though…"

Wu had hoped it wasn't true, but the dates and timing were matching up a little too well from the last time he had been with Sayu. "I… I'm sure your father would love to see you…" he nervously said, trying to smile a bit.

Morrow just shrugged his small shoulders, "how come he wasn't around then? My mom said that he wasn't there since before I was born…"

Oh boy, Wu started to sweat. "Maybe… he didn't even know… maybe your mother was just… scared for him to find out and made some… irrational decision… I take it they weren't married?"

"I guess… mommy said that she loved him though… and was so sure he loved her… but she was confused… she told me she regretted every single day she didn't go back… but then she said she got so sad… and then sick… and then she… she died…" he wiped his eyes again.

Wu looked away, this was it; this had to be him. His son; Sayu had his son and he never even knew she was pregnant to begin with. He looked nothing like him, it was truly amazing, everything belonged to her except maybe his nose, but right down to the element, he was all Sayu.

"M-maybe… you can just stay here… how does that sound?" Wu uneasily smiled. "I can show you things… maybe… help you master your element". Morrow perked up, holding his hands behind his back, "It's okay… really, I know other elemental masters too! I could help you with that! Air can be really hard to control if you're stuck on your own…"

The boy looked back at Wu. He didn't know why, but he felt like he could really trust him. "Thank you sir…" he hugged the man who was secretly his father.

_"__I'll tell him… eventually… I will… I promise I will… I'm so sorry Sayu… I love you too… I always did… from the moment I met you… I guess we were both just being stupid…"_

**Well... I just updated two stories that make people laugh and smile... now this one... so along with Morrow's little story, I'll be having a bit of Lloyd mini story here. My brother and I were watching Goblet of Fire with my brother and I was just like "ooooooh I GOT THIS COOL IDEA" so I hope you like this part of the story...**

**And oh look, Wu angsting... I am planning major feels... just saying...**

**Thanks for reading guys :3 **

**~Mar**


	119. Not What it Seems

Lloyd, Brad, and Gene were forced to work together. It was inescapable because f they backed out now, they would be expelled. Luckily, there were two other boys on the team so it wasn't like it would just be them three. The other schools looked… well… far more menacing would not be an understatement.

For one, the first school was an all girls' one; St Maria's Academy for the Black Arts. In the lineup of five competitors were some rather small girls, but they looked pretty scary nonetheless. Gene snorted when he saw the smallest at the end skipping along behind the older girls. "I'm so sure that she could survive! Talk about the runt of the litter!" he elbowed Brad.

The girl he had insulted stomped up, looking him dead in the eye, obviously hearing that, "We took gold three years in a row… two of those years I was on the team!" she adjusted her round framed glasses, "And the name's Sally… not Runt," she practically growled at the two.

"Sally…" a pale skinned girl about as old as Lloyd was walked over, placing a hand on her shoulder, "We'll show them… don't worry… we can take gold again this year… I promise…"

"What would a scholarship student like you know! You got in on pure luck because you're a quarter demon!" a girl from another school laughed with her friends obnoxiously. This one looked like a coed school for sure.

"Ignore them Ruby… they're just jealous that your mom is super cool and you can kick anyone's butt you choose," Sally was the one to comfort the other now. "Let's go," she shot an icy glare at the others. "See you in the ring you fools!"

"Can you believe those girls!?" Gene laughed with Lloyd. "I don't care if they got three medals, we can do way better!"

"Yea! Girls' are icky…" Lloyd stuck his tongue out. "Hey… Brad?"

The curly haired boy was staring off at Sally with a dopey look on his face, "I think I'm in love…" he breathed just loud enough for the other members of his team to hear him and stare at him. Leave it to Brad to fall for some girl with a heart of ice.

The third school in the running with Darkly's and St. Maria's was Birchwood's Brats, a coed school containing the girl who laughed at the one called Ruby mere moments ago. They were a pretty posh school compared to St. Maria's, and that was saying something because the standards at Maria's were pretty high to begin with for the young girls there.

One of the older boys stared off at them, "They're good… took gold eight times… four of which were all consecutive wins… we never stood a chance… they took gold last year too in case you forgot… the red head that insulted that girl was on the winning team all but one year… she's the oldest and most evil as it gets… Evelyn James…"

The other newcomers to these games swallowed. Stiff competition it looked like. "Jake, Aiden, you guys gotta be kidding us, Darkly wanted us to play this year!? We'll get clobbered! Most of these kids are older than us and one girl is part demon?!" Brad could have cried.

The one called Aiden sighed, "Then there's that one, they're based in Spinjago I think… They're almost as bad as we are to be honest… but they still have one more medal than we got… they're the only other all boys school in the league…"

Lloyd looked away from the fourth group that was being explained and frowned when he saw the last group coming off their own black painted bus. "Hey… who are they guys? That fifth group…"

The other four stared. "You… mean to tell me you never heard of Blackthorne Academy for Wretched and Vile!?" Jake's jaw dropped along with Gene and Brad's. "They're so horrible… They have seven gold and always strive to beat Birchwood… and they will do every trick in the book… even the banned ones… only a few times did they ever get busted for doing illegal stuff… if they weren't caught, they would have like… at least ten medals… they're slick though…"

"And it looks like everyone brought their best players… we're doomed…" Gene sighed, shaking his head. "This is hopeless… honestly… there must have been three better kids than us to pick from…" he motioned to himself and the other two eight year olds.

Lloyd just smirked the whole time they were complaining about how they were going to lose again until Brad finally noticed this strange look on his friend's face, "I think we're gonna win this year guys… I got a good feeling about all of this…"

"You… are crazy…" Gene breathed. "We only have two weeks until the games begin and they last for several months, even through the summer… if we don't get our act together before each challenge… we're screwed… I'm gonna bring shame to my father! I'm sure of it!"

"Oh, I'm not crazy!" Lloyd laughed, "I'm a Garmadon! And we don't give up so easily! Just watch… we'll take home the gold this year… I promise…"

* * *

><p>Misako looked at the tapestries that were moved from the Stone Temple walls. It seemed that the Overlord was also familiar with this prophecy back when he was still alive and in a physical body. Every painting was beautifully detailed, telling a loosely woven story of how the battle was to end. However, the final result was not on the cloth and was unknown.<p>

She sighed sadly, so far, she had hit a wall so she decided to at least dig up more about the Stone Army. There was no pun intended either, she literally was digging up another Stone Warrior. It was taking some time, but they found one, right in the museum no less! The entire wing was shut down until it could be finished and patched up.

The director seemed pretty happy about it all though. Finally, there could be something to show off to the public. And by the look of things, this was a pretty big warrior statue, at least twenty feet tall by the size. So far they just had the top of the helmet and uncovered.

"Geez… this project will take forever I bet… not to mention we'll have to take some time to restore it all and clean it up…" Sonia looked over from the hallway where things weren't blocked off.

"Yea… but hey, at least I managed to be useful for once in a long while…" Misako wiped her eyes, feeling tired. "I hit a wall… it was so frustrating to be honest… I thought there might be something more with the warrior statue… maybe I was just hoping it was the real deal… but know… it's plain old rock that was carved by some of the Overlord's followers in his cult… you know, like that girl Hatsu?"

"Hey, you'll find out more, don't sweat it, you're the smartest person ever Mimi!" the other punched her friend's shoulder.

Daniel ran in, a worried look on his face. "Ignacia… was just attacked… and almost went up all in flames…"

"Kas and Nami," Misako ran past him, forgetting about work, wanting to make sure her friends were okay.

* * *

><p>Kai and Nya sat on the porch; Kai was drawing in the dirt and soot with a stick, looking completely numb while his sister sat silently beside him, hugging her blue dragon close to her chest, brown eyes holding back tears. Who knew their day could turn south so fast…<p>

* * *

><p><em>The two young kids were pushed back inside by their mother forcibly, "This is for your own good… I'm sorry… we need to go and make sure everyone is safe… I need to make sure your father is safe and I can't have you out and about in harm's way!"<em>

_"__Mom!" Kai called out through the door, "What's going on! I can help you!" _

_Namiko sighed, ignoring her children's shouts for an explanation, locking the door. "KASAI!" She screamed for her husband. Finally, she saw him limping through the smoke, to her arms. "Come on, you're injured, get inside with the kids!" she begged him. _

_"__No! This is my town! I'm the master of fire… we're gonna push these bastards back to the Underworld or so help me...! I… just can't believe this is happening…"_

_Namiko's brown eyes leaked tears, "I still can't believe that Garmadon would order something like this… he was our friend… he… would never just… he…"_

_"__He never ordered this!" The masters of fire and water spun around, weapons in hand as the general of the Skulkin army stood with four blades in hand. "I acted on my own because he is a soft, incompetent leader! I'm so sick of you surface dwelling fools running things and trying to as like to say, keeping us in our place! You only think you do! Ignorant scum!"_

_"__Samukai…" Kasai spat. "Better get out of here or else I'm gonna roast your bones till you're nothing but ashes!"_

_The other monster laughed loudly, "I would like to see you try you shrimp!"_

* * *

><p><em>Nya jumped around, "KAI! KAI WHAT'S HAPPENING!?" she shouted several times as her older brother was looking out the small window, "Is mommy and daddy okay!?"<em>

_"__I don't know! I can't see anything!" the brunette one sniffed, turning around to hug his younger sister, "Don't worry… don't worry, we'll be fine… we'll be fine… you'll see Nya…"_

* * *

><p><em>Namiko fell to one knee, looking down as she breathed, her chest aching. Kasai was out, it was obvious from all the bleeding he was doing, "Kasai…" she pulled him close, "We need to…" she swallowed. "He won't stop hurting these innocent until we're dead… I just know it…" they dropped their weapons, holding the other's face. "We need to… to do something…" <em>

* * *

><p><em>Kai was looking back out the window once more after consoling Nya. "They're… kneeling?" he stared at their silhouettes in the smoke. "GET UP AND FIGHT!" he shouted, though couldn't hear through the glass and the sounds of the battle going around them. <em>

* * *

><p><em>"<em>_Then you know what we must do…" Kasai lowered his head, hugging his wife tightly. "To the end and back… we are ninja…"_

_"__And ninja… never quit…" Namiko sniffed; looking back with her husband at Samukai, closing her eyes; hands clenching into fists. _

* * *

><p>Misako stared at the two children who looked up at her. She was speechless, mouth slightly open. They must have been traumatized beyond belief from what happened to them. She was going to be sick in all honesty. Two more of her best friends had vanished from her life overnight.<p>

"D-do you need… anybody to look after you?" Misako croaked, trying to speak. She didn't know what else she could possibly say to them. They had lost their parents.

Kai shook his head, "We have an older cousin from my mom's side or something… she promised to look after us until I turn eighteen and officially can take over this place…" the fourteen year old wiped his bloodshot eyes. "Thanks though…"

The green eyed woman slowly nodded, "W-Where… did you guys bury them then when the fight was done?" she wiped her eyes as well.

Kai shrugged so Nya decided to answer, "they… they said they couldn't find their bodies… maybe some bones… they said they must have burned in the big fire… I don't know though…" Misako could hear her voice was heightened, starting to crack as the little girl tried to hold in her tears.

"Oh sweetie…" Misako hugged her friends' little girl. "Forgive me… I wish I would have known… I wish I could have helped…"

* * *

><p>Wu stared at the letter. It was Misako's handwriting, though; she didn't even bother to sign her name at the bottom. Morrow wondered why Wu looked so sad but he kept quiet, when Wu was ready, he would speak and tell him maybe.<p>

The sensei knew Morrow was watching him, waiting for some kind of explanation to his current mood, "My best friend… is dead…" he quietly said, hanging his head. "I can't help but feel I brought bad luck to him and his wife… this must be my fault…"

Morrow decided to gingerly hug the blonde. Wu enjoyed it very much. _"Oh Morrow… I wish I could tell you everything… I want to call you my son…"_

"Come on… I guess… t-there's no use in wallowing in the death… they wouldn't like that I'm sure… Namiko would think me stupid if I wasted days mourning their deaths…" he held a hand to his son's head before taking his hand and leading him outside. "Why don't you go play with your kite while I make tea?"

The little boy smiled and nodded, running out and down the wooden steps to retrieve his kite.

Wu was finally given a moment to himself, "You can't be gone… you both… you both didn't deserve an end like that…" one hand gripped the edge of the counter, trying to not lose it. "We were invincible… we could stop any evil… now it's just taking over our lives…"

"HEY WU! CHECK THIS OUT!" Morrow excitedly called from outside.

He finally managed to calm down, walking back out to see Morrow was flying his kite… but with no string attached to it. "Look! I can fly it without the tail and stuff!" he moved a hand to the side, keeping the wood and paper object up in the air with his own powers.

"You're four… and you… have such control…" he mumbled, looking back down. _"I wonder…"_ he swallowed. _"Could Morrow be my Green Ninja?" _he played with the idea in his head. Oh, if Morrow, his son, was the Green Ninja, that would be amazing. He suddenly felt proud. _"He will be my greatest student ever… he will be my Green Ninja… I'm so sure of it… with a little training…"_

The blue eyed man smiled more now at such a thought.

**Woo, finished this one! Yes, I introduced Sally. I love that little brat so much... as for who Ruby is? Well... do you guys remember someone else who had wings and was part demon? owo **

**I'm sorry to everyone loved Kasai and Namiko... their end finally came... I wanted to do it flashback style... idk I felt it fit. I know most people make their mom die from a sickness or something BEFORE the dad dies, but I felt Namiko was worthy of dying in a fight, despite being weakened from being sick chapters/years ago.**

**Soooo... I hope you will all enjoy the coming chapters... lots of Wu and Morrow and Lloyd and gang for sure. Thanks for reading guys!**

**~Mar**


	120. Such Enthusiasm

Lloyd was seeming to be having a glaring contest with all the other kids from the other schools that were here for the games. Brad avoided eye contact with all of them, nudging Lloyd's shoulder, "Lloyd… I really don't wanna be laughed at when we lose and get expelled… okay? Can you stop acting like we're so incredible and can beat all of them?"

"I don't know…" Aiden smirked, "I like his enthusiasm! He's really spunky for a little noob, it's great!" he chuckled, "Maybe if we just act more confident, we'll actually win this year… because I'm pretty sure you guys don't want to be expelled…"

"Yea… if we lose… I don't know what my dad will do to me…" Gene covered his face, terrified of the thought. "Do you know how much he pays for me to be here?! He's gonna murder me if I get expelled over something like… this… he invested way too much…"

"Will Aiden, Jake, Lloyd, Brad, and Gene come to my office please? Right away!" the speaker in the dining room sounded and everyone looked to the five boys who tried to slink out of the room unnoticed but it was quiet and everyone kept looking at them.

When they all got inside the principal's office, Mr. Darkly walked out with a smirk, "So… tonight begins the opening ceremony… I hope you all are ready for winning the gold this year…" he frowned when he noticed the boys were rather depressed, "Just remember I can expel you all if you fail me! I am so sick of all the other principals waving though stupid medals in my face! I want one this year boys… you're going to win... do you understand?"

Lloyd looked at the other four and then back to the scary looking principal, "We got this!"

Darkly blinked at the youngest's confident expression. Lloyd was pretty much abandoned by all his family here, save for his father who decided to come visiting more and more often. It was rather good to be associated with a dark lord of the Underworld. For the first year at least Lloyd seemed to not be promising at all… he still appeared to be too soft, but there was also more to work with now.

That didn't mean Darkly still disliked him and would love to see the runt get expelled, he just needed a good enough reason to do it so no one would question him on it.

"Well then… I can't believe I'm saying this but you should try to be like Lloyd with this optimism thing… how can you all hope to be masterminds of darkness if you all give up before the fight has even begun!? I should expel you other four just for thinking like that!"

"Yes sir… sorry…" Jake scratched behind his ear, "We'll win this year".

"Oh I'm counting on it… well," he straightened up, "See you all tonight then!" he shooed them out of his room.

* * *

><p>In the gym, they watched the other teams of five play and train from the looks of things. The girls from St Maria's were surprisingly quick and agile. It also helped that one member of the team definitely had a set of wings on her. They were just showing off with their gymnastic abilities.<p>

Birchwood kept to themselves and were not ones to be showing off tricks. They were playing a game of kickball with the other team from Spinjago. Clearly they were winning by the look on Spinjago's faces.

Blackthorne? They were busy setting up what looked to be traps and other ways of sabotage. Not to mention that some of the older kids were doing target practice… with actual knives… and were hitting every target, every time…

"We're so screwed…"

* * *

><p>Morrow never wanted to leave Wu's side, he loved spending time with him and doing everything from playing around to running errands and everything in between. The old man enjoyed the feeling of being needed by his son, who, of course, did not he was his son. He was still very afraid to tell Morrow that he was his father; he didn't want to spoil what their relationship had grown into.<p>

He was such a good little boy, so willing to be helpful in any way that he could. Much like how Sayu was before she left them behind.

Wu sat on the deck of the monastery, watching Morrow control a falling leaf so that it could not touch the ground at any moment. He was a toddler and he was so amazing. "You know… Morrow… I believe that you are very special…" the black haired boy looked up at his sensei, "And… there is a prophecy that says there will be a boy, a powerful ninja who will grow up to defeat evil… and I think you are him…"

The boy's gray eyes lit up brightly at that thought. Wu believed that he was something amazing and special!? He wondered if anyone other than his mother thought that of him until now. "Wow…" he breathed.

"But… before I could test you for that quite possible path… we would of course need to train you properly in the art of Spinjitsu and you must practice to further master your air abilities…" he quickly said, not wanting Morrow to jump the gun on this.

Morrow jumped to his feet, "What are we waiting for then!?" he ran into the center of the courtyard after jumping off the porch, "I wanna start right now! Turn on the training course! I can do it! I know I can sensei!"

Wu chuckled at the little boy's enthusiasm, "Okay okay… patience young one…" he stood up, folding his arms before grabbing his staff. "Before we run we must walk, before we walk we must crawl…" he recited something he remembered his father saying when he was around Morrow's age. "Let us start with something less deadly to a four year old…"

"Hmmm… okay…" the black haired child sounded impatient as he pouted. "But I can do it!"

"Of course my student…" Wu smiled in response, leaning on his staff a bit.

_"__Well… he certainly has some traits that my brother inherited for sure… impatience and stubbornness included…"_ Wu let out a small sigh._ "No matter I guess… Morrow is much kinder than Garmadon ever could be… he can handle whatever I throw at him I bet… he is my son after all… he's going to be a great ninja!" _He proudly thought.

* * *

><p>Lloyd was in his room, alone… well… not totally alone, his father's shadow was on the wall as he explained the games and what he had to do, though… he seemed to leave out the fact that if he lost, he would be expelled. He didn't want to burden his father with such a thing… even if he wanted to live in the Underworld with him so badly.<p>

Not to mention, if he was hoping to be like his dad and be a prince of evil and darkness, he would have to continue his studies at Darkly's and prove to everyone that he was just like his father! Even that ratty old principal who he knew hated him enough. Everyone knew it actually.

Garmadon on the other hand… didn't like that his son was so willingly wanting to play in these games and be in this school. It sounded dangerous for a bunch of school children he would be facing. He naturally knew what it was like to have to do dangerous things at that age. He, Wu, and Misako were constantly sword fighting and learning how to fight… and even end someone's life if it came down to it.

Still… Lloyd looked excited enough for this, so might as well root for him during the next months of this event. "I'm sure you'll bring everyone to victory Lloyd… you're already such a good little leader with getting your team to believe in themselves… just like your mommy…" he trailed off a little more quietly now. Lloyd was showing so many of Misako's traits and the little boy didn't even realize it.

Lloyd looked down at the mention of his mother. He obviously remembered that he had a mother. Garmadon knew he was just choosing to forget her at this point. _"He'll come around… I'm sure of it… Misako will return and… and we can mend everything… this is all only temporary…"_

"Well… I have to go for now… have fun… and… and show those brats from the other schools that you are the greatest mastermind ever!" he forced himself to say in a happy and excited tone. "I'll see you later Lloyd… maybe next weekend you can come visit me… okay?"

"Kay daddy!" he piped with a brighter smile than before. He jumped off his bed and ran downstairs to go find his friends before the games ceremony could begin without them.

**And so our fun will begin... between seeing Morrow and Wu bond and train and Lloyd playing in these ridiculously dangerous contests, we're going to have so much fun ^w^ and there shall be so many feels as well for you all OuO**

**It's of funny, my friend and my brother are just like, "MAR, YOU JUST DRAGGED THIS WHOLE THING OUT WHEN YOU ADDED MORROW INTO THIS" **

**And I'm just over here trying to procrastinate the ending for this because I lost everything I had written in the crash, including the second, alternate end... so... chances are... there will end up being one ending unless I can remember the alternate... the real ending was so short, I remember it well enough... **

**So yep... this has been a very very... very... late update of this fic... lol, thanks for reading my peeps!**

**~Mar**


	121. One of Us

_"__The masters of fire and water were exterminated last week at high noon…"_

Garmadon was furious when Samukai finally came slinking back into the Underworld with his men after days of being away. An underling of Samukai's stupidly reported to Garmadon, thinking that the order for them to be killed came straight from the top, naturally though, Samukai had lied.

"I never ordered you to attack people Samukai…" he hissed at the four armed skeleton general. "I never once told you to burn down a whole village… I told you to simply search for possible places that my brother could have hidden that blasted map! THAT WAS IT!"

The Skulkin didn't look him in the eye; he was frustrated with the man before him. "You order us around like you're the most evil thing in the universe… but guess what?" Garmadon's eyebrow twitched up, "You are some half assed wannabe king… You don't deserve that helmet… you don't deserve anything you desire… you should be in a cell right this moment for everything you've done!"

The dark lord let out a laugh, "And yet here we are, I'm stronger and far more powerful than you… and you are just too pissy to admit to it you sorry excuse for a Skulkin… maybe you would do better if you just did as I commanded!"

"HA! You don't understand what I'm saying Garmadon… I'm not afraid to admit that you beat me… I'm telling you: you're too soft… you walk around, acting like you're some cold hearted, dark person… but I know the real side of you… not that fake one you show to the men… you love your son a little too much to be evil… you long after that wife of yours… Why… I even heard you say that you don't even want your boy to be like you! No bad guy would dare wish that!"

That surprised Garmadon for sure, "I thought I ordered you all to leave me when my son is here…" he hissed, "Another order you disobey… I don't care if you think I'm too soft, I don't care if you accept me here… because I know everyone else is too afraid of me to confront me and that is where I have more of the upper hand here… so get back in line… or else I'll burn you ash… just like you did to my innocent friends… Don't cross me again…"

Samukai held his breath, both glaring at each other angrily. "I said it before… and I'll say it again… you are… and will _never_ be one of us…" he slowly said before he turned around and walked out of the throne room.

* * *

><p>The vice principal stood at the podium in the huge school courtyard out back, the twenty five competing kids in their own designated areas and all the other students that came to watch was to the left, and all the Darkly boys were to the right.<p>

"Now…" the woman with the pitch black hair pinned back cleared her throat and began to address the students, "We are here on this night… to start a long, time honored tradition… decades back, the founders of these schools, our ancestors, set these games a way to prove who is the superior leader of criminal mastermind producers…"

She and Darkly looked over at the other principals who were snorting and chuckling to themselves, interrupting her introductions, "Shame Darkly's hasn't produced a half decent criminal in how long? Hibiki was jailed and Ronin was never heard from again after that silly heist years ago after he was almost caught! That era sure died out haha"

The vice principal glared at the teachers, "Ahem…" she loudly coughed, making the others shut up right away, "So… tonight… we welcome the other four contenders as we host the games this year…" she gestured to the other four teams. "The designated students chosen for this tournament of wits and cunning will be given the rules and the first of clues to the first challenge will be given…"

Anything was pretty much fair game except you couldn't cause bodily harm to someone or sabotage something to the point of getting any student fatally hurt or killing someone. Lloyd was hoping there would be more rules, but that was it…

The first hint was given to the kids. In Aiden's hand was placed a pendant on a chain since he was the oldest one of the five Darkly's. "Manage to open the locket without breaking it… and you will be prepared for the challenge… if it breaks, you won't get to find out…" the principal stated. "Now return to your dorms, students will have one week to figure it out and then the first game will begin…"

Lloyd frowned, wondering what purpose this served. As they were walking back, he saw the St Maria's girls fiddling about, trying to open it right away, they were rather smart being they are in second with most wins so far. The other four with him were busy talking amongst themselves as well about what kind of hint they could be getting here.

Nothing could be done that night though since the younger and older boys had separate wings of the school. Lloyd just laid in his bottom bunk, staring at Brad's mattress over him, wide awake and frustrated. "So… any guesses greenie?" he heard Gene say from the next bunk over.

"What?"

"You're the one with all the optimism… so… if you're so sure we can win… solve the clue and open up the locket…" the red head taunted.

The blonde scrunched his nose; he still hated Gene so much it was probably considered to be humanly impossible. "Well…" he started trying to think of ideas. "Maybe it has some sort of… object that will tell us of a location and if we break the pendant then the clue will be destroyed too…? Maybe it's going to be like some kind of… I don't know; you're the smart one!" he threw back. "You always have to remind me that you're smarter and you can't just pass me the buck now!"

"Guys… shut up… I wanna just sleep…" Brad whined at them both. "Argue in the morning when I'm awake and have the energy to stop you two…"

"Yea!" the other boys in the dorm shouted angrily at them.

It got quiet really fast. "No matter how much you want to be… no matter how many pranks you pull or the fact that your dad rules the Underworld… you will never be one of us…" Gene hissed at Lloyd viciously. "You don't belong here or anywhere else… your own mother didn't even want you… you have no future!"

Lloyd was hurt by that comment, but he was used to hearing things like that. Was it true that Misako didn't want him? Who knew anymore. He did know his father loved her still from the few things he would say, he always looked sad though when he did say something about her. He couldn't be bothered by the fact he hadn't seen her in close to four years. He didn't know what he wanted other than to make his dad proud and to be like him.

That's why he had to win this tournament, he had to prove to his dad and everyone else that he was, in fact, evil. He wanted nothing more than to show up that nasty, old principal and Gene that he fit right in here. If he won… he would finally be respected too by the others.

All the young boy could do now was to go to bed and ignore Gene's rude comments. Things would be just fine for him. They were going to figure out this first challenge… and he would do it.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe the first challenge is tonight and we still haven't figured this out…" Jake groaned; face on the lunch table. "Look… all of them have it figured… you can see it in their eyes when they look at us… better start packing your bags boys… because we're going to be expelled for sure…"<p>

Lloyd glared at that stupid silver pendant and swiped it, "Oh come on you stupid thing!" he continued to try pulling it apart again. After the moment of frustration passed, he pressed it back down on the table hard, once his hand was lifted, the pendant popped open. "What the-?!" he blinked.

"What did you do!?" Gene jumped to his feet.

"Uuuh…" Lloyd stuttered. "I-I don't know! I just pressed it down and it popped open!" he held his hands up. "But… there's nothing inside of it…"

"Well… It didn't break so I guess that's how you would open it…" Brad scratched his head. "But I don't get it… what does this have to do with anything? So we pushed instead of pulled?"

"Maybe once we see what we'll have to do tonight… we'll know…" Aiden sighed, "Come on, the bell's gonna ring soon, for now, start coming up with ideas throughout the day… we'll have another meeting at dinner before the game… see ya guys later guys…" the older child ran off with his book bag.

* * *

><p>Lloyd dragged his feet as he and Brad walked to class by themselves. The blonde couldn't stop thinking about what Gene had said last night. <em>"Not one of them… I'll show him… if I can open the locket… I can figure out what it means too… I'll show that loser up! Darkly will see that I'm not some screw up mistake…"<em>

"Hey… you okay?" he jumped out of his skin when Brad asked him the question out of nowhere. "You… look really angry about something… did… Gene say something to you when I was asleep last night?"

"Oh uh…" he didn't want to tell Brad about what he was feeling, he knew that though this boy was nice to him, he could turn around right away and be like the others. "Nah… I'm just thinking about um…" he looked away, "Those punk losers from the other schools… they think they're so much better than us…"

Brad smiled, "Yea, we'll show them, we're going to win!"

"YEA!"

The two high fived before running down the hallway to get to their class before they would be marked as absent.

* * *

><p>Misako wiped her eyes tiredly as she picked the mail out of the door slot. She then noticed a black envelope that came from "Darkly's Boarding School for Bad Boys". She was scared to open it. Why would they be sending her a letter now? Unless… something bad happened to Lloyd while he was there!?<p>

She was feeling fine until that came. It was a letter from the vice principal it seemed and she knew that her son was going to be in some deep trouble after reading the first sentence, but was relieved to see nothing exactly bad happened to him.

_Dear Mrs. Garmadon,_

_You're son has the amazing opportunity to be playing for his school's team in this year's Tournament of Evil. We hope that he will not disappoint, as if he should lose, he will be returned to you and his scholarship revoked at the end of the year when the tournament is over. He has been skating on thin ice as it is, but he seems to be quite excited to help bring our school to victory and for this, we are so grateful for as you see, we have not won in a very long time. _

_Mr. Darkly requested that I send this to you being you have not come to visit at all in the past three and half years and wanted to give you a personal update rather sending this off to your brother in-law. For your son's sake, we hope that he doesn't fail us. You are welcome to attend any of the games starting tonight. We hope you can make it and we'll see you there. _

_-Vice Principal Andromeda Stevenson_

Misako let out a loud sigh. She felt horrible about all of this… then again; she figured that Darkly would pull something like that on them. "It was a mistake…" she finally murmured. "I was an idiot for thinking that sending Lloyd there was a good idea…" she shook her head. "He'll be expelled… and…"

And then what? She couldn't just… take him back and not expect things to be different now. He would probably demand to go live with his father… or maybe even Wu now! But she didn't want to pull him out too at the same time because he could win and be fine… and she couldn't just visit him either now… after four years? What would he say to that?!

"I'm just… going to have accept that he's gonna yell at me when he gets kicked out…" she shrugged her shoulders. "This is going to be my punishment I guess for being a horrible mother…"

She tore up the letter and went back to try and finish her paperwork, but she couldn't possibly focus on that now. "It's my fault… no matter what I do, no matter where I send him off to, it's not going to change the fact of who he's going to become I suppose… but I… I still need more time to fix this… if he can stay in that school… I can fix this…"

"But I won't get that time I guess… he's just not one of them…"

**And now we get to see some Lloyd and Garmadon comparison, yaaay! Next chapter should be a bit more of a time jump somewhere along the life Since this is going to take place over the course of a year... by that time Morrow will be five for sure and I'll be closer to doing what I planned for Morrow hahaha...**

**If you pictured that as evil laugh, you are correct, that is what I sounded like.**

**Okiedoke, see you guys later! Thanks for reading! :D **

**~Mar**


	122. Asset

Lloyd inhaled, seeing the other team leaders look so confident and sure of themselves, while they were here, not understanding what was supposed to be done still and was obviously showing on their faces.

"We're gonna lose this one for sure… look at all of them… we'll get beaten so hard…" Brad cried quietly, afraid of doing badly more than ever.

"They all look so confident Sally… even Darkly's seems to be checking everyone out… what are we gonna do?" Ruby whispered to the brunette with the glasses, "We're going to do so badly… and headmistress Cassandra is gonna punish us for sure if we can't even win the first challenge…"

"You just need to keep pretending like we know what we're doing…" she whispered back, "I'm sure plenty of the others are doing the same as us… We'll figure it out when we get inside…"

"But we broke the locket ! Don't you get it?!" Ruby bit down on her finger, afraid of saying it too loudly as her pinkish eyes shifted around to the others again. "We have no clue whatsoever what this is going to be… and we only have two minutes until this starts… there _is no time_."

Little did any of these kids know; it was just Darkly's that had not broken the locket given to them a week ago, but no one was going to let the other know that, it was best to keep everyone else intimidated by looking so confident… and it was actually working.

The vice principal stepped up to the podium again, clearing her throat, "In sixty seconds, the game shall begin… I don't know if anyone has this figured out… but if you opened your charm correctly… you would find it was empty… it was how you opened it that counted…" Lloyd and his friends then noticed all the other schools looked scared suddenly while they were merely surprised.

"Were… we the only ones then?" Jake's eyes widened.

"Now… with that said… all you are to know… is that this is a maze fill with traps and such that you will not figure out so easily if you could not find a way to open your locket…" she looked at her watch, "In twenty seconds, the gate will open… and you will go in blind. Your goal is to get past all the traps and make it to the center as a team and retrieve one of the five seeing orbs we places in the center… which will also be your next challenge clue. Then your whole team must make it back to gain the points," she straightened up and looked behind her, "Good luck kiddies… have fun in there…" she deviously smirked.

"We're screeeeewed," Lloyd heard one of the kids say across the way. More things like that started popping up in conversations all around the five boys.

"SHUT UP!"

"This is my first year! I'm too young to die!"

"No one is gonna die Stacy!"

"Actually, three years ago, someone did!"

"Not helping Jason!"

Lloyd held his breath. It was dark out and they really were going in completely blind here, and they seemed to do their simple pre challenge easily! Maybe it really would all make sense once they actually got in there...

There was little to no light save for some hanging lanterns along the walls. In the courtyard, Darkly's had a huge, brick and concrete maze mainly for decoration… but not tonight… tonight it would be set up with every kind of trap imagineable…

"Okay… just stay close… we all have to make it out together… don't forget that… we're a team now…" Aiden swallowed.

"I wonder if we can even do this… we don't even get along…" Gene hung his head. "Years of paying into this school and it's all being taken away because of you two!" he pointed to Brad and Lloyd, "You always sabotage my projects and pull mean stuff on me and when I get back at you, you just keep on retaliating until the principal roped us into this!"

"It's not my fault you're a stuck jerk who thinks he's knows everything there is! You think you're so much better than me because you're a paying student and I was dropped off and given a scholarship…" Lloyd clenched his teeth, eyes welling up with tears. "So what if my mom dropped me off and never came back!? At least I know my dad will accept me whether I end up being evil or not! You may be richer than most of us here Gene… but that is one luxury you will never have; loving parents!"

It was dead silent amongst the small group. Aiden, Jake, and Brad were looking back and forth between the other two teammates. This was very awkward now… mainly because it was true, Lloyd wasn't wrong, unlike most parents, he had a father who truly cared about him.

Gene's face was turning redder than his hair when he finally had heard enough of the truth, "OH YEA?!" he hissed, "Well I'm gonna prove to everyone in this school that you are just some stupid wannabe once and for all! You don't fit in anywhere! You're just such a freak and I'm gonna make sure that you get expelled one way or another!" He took off on his own down the path on his own.

"GENE! WAIT!" The older two called after him.

Brad stayed behind though and looked at Lloyd, "… you okay?"

Lloyd sniffed, wiping his eyes, "No…" he croaked.

"Lloyd…" Brad sighed, hugging him. "Don't listen to him… y-you are like us… you fit in just fine around here… I think even a lot of the teachers like you…"

"Can you please just stop lying to make me feel better? Because it isn't working… I know what I am… nothing but a disappointment to everyone… this school… my dad… my own mom who left me here and I don't even know why she did it…" Lloyd pushed his friend away and started off on his own too. The last one followed the blonde though, keeping up better.

"But we have to work together Lloyd! You heard Ms. Stevenson!"

Lloyd slowed down a bit, he was right; this whole tournament was about team effort to accomplish their goals. The two looked at one another, nodding. Step one was to… unfortunately, track Gene down and get their orb and get out of there before coming in last.

There were ten rounds of games and puzzles to test your plan making and solving skills as well as some physical abilities, if you were the first team to lose three rounds by coming in last, you were out for sure. They couldn't risk that at all. They had found out that after round three, the first school with the lowest points would be eliminated from the tournament right off the bat.

"So… traps? I haven't seen any yet…" Lloyd huffed. "What… do you think… they'll be? I mean… they're not allowed to kill us… or ya know… come close to it…"

"I don't know to be honest… I'm so new to this too Lloyd…" the curly haired one swallowed, knees hurting from running on the concrete so hard. As they slowed down, Brad saw his foot landed on some kind of trigger stone. "Oh crap…" he hissed to himself, wondering what was to happen.

Lloyd looked around, waiting for something to happen to them. Nothing happened to them, but a strange wall popped up right in their path. "Uuuh… okay… how are we gonna get over this thing?"

"Like this!" Brad found a strange foothold in between the bricks and started up, however, when he got closer to the top of the wall, his hand pressed something in a higher up hold, and the wall extended up higher… and it did so again when he climbed again apparently triggering something else. "Wait… what!?" he dropped back down. "I don't believe this…" he growled in even more frustration.

The blonde analyzed it the best he could. "Uuuh… we can't go under or around… geez…" he pulled out the silver pendant. "I don't get it…" he opened it again like how he discovered it opened the first time. He stopped, looking up. "Okay… this sounds stupid but… the niche in the wall where you got a foothold?" he looked Brad who raised an eyebrow, "stick your hand in it… and look for something to push… it seems the higher you go… the triggers just extend it… try pressing one closer to the bottom…"

"Lloyd, there are a bunch of those things… come on, let's just try to find another way!" he turned around but another wall appeared. "AAAGH!"

The green eyed boy sighed and started feeling around in the wall crevices. "Let's see…" he sighed, feeling anxious, knowing that they had to continue on before they could come in last on the first go. "Wait! I do feel something!"

The wall split like doors and opened, allowing them to go on. Brad started at his friend, "Okay… how?"

Lloyd tossed him their locket, "I think… we're supposed to take things on, we can't just back out of it… and… I think it's teaching us to think through and not force something…"

"So… to keep looking for the right, sensible way…?"

"Yea… this is a school for masterminds and genius after all… right? Isn't that what Gene always tells us? Sometimes the answer isn't always straightforward… but it's also not always hidden… we gotta discern that for ourselves…" Lloyd walked past, "Now let's go find the others and get what we need!"

* * *

><p>Morrow was more than just a good student, he was a prodigy, one of the most skilled masters that Wu ever knew, he had such control it wasn't even funny. Wind was always a tricky thing to control after all, more than the fire his brother and best friend had known and used. Air was always changing and shifting and you had to have such focus.<p>

The boy with the green streak in his hair smiled at his sensei. Wu thought he was just precious in every way. They did everything together and was closer than anything he could have ever hoped for, one reason why he was still withholding that special piece of info that was so important that he probably should have told him by now.

He could never find the words to say it though. That he was his father; that his mother, Saachi had left while she was pregnant and how they both must have truly regretted splitting up that sad night. It was too late to apologize and take her back, but he still had a chance with Morrow if he just sucked it up and faced that fear of an unknown reaction from the four year old… he didn't want to lose Saachi a second time though…

"Did I do good? Did I do good?" he hopped around after he was finished with the training course. The toddler was so determined to get through it. He was rather slow, but Wu let him take his time instead of normally timing him like the other kids who still came to visit. He was still a younger child after all anyways.

Oddly enough, Morrow didn't really get along with the other kids. It may have had something to do with Wu treating him better and was closer to him than the others and he thought he was allowed to wave in front of the other kids that he was Wu's favorite.

Wu never addressed it though and told him to be nicer to them all. In fact, he kept on encouraging the idea of Morrow being the almighty green ninja, he even promised that when he was a bit bigger, he would let him wear the robes before he would officially test him because he was just so certain that was to be his destiny.

Who wouldn't want their son to be the green ninja!? He would be a symbol of power, help, and light to all in a time of darkness!

* * *

><p>Lloyd barreled through, dodging smaller traps like stun darts or the occasional petty pitfall trap. He was wondering when another big trap would hit them next.<p>

"AAH! HEEELP!"

Lloyd stopped in his tracks and turned to look around when he heard the sound of some of the competing girls shouting. Brad looked around as well and sighed, "No… we don't have time… besides… I think it's those St Maria girls… they're competition Lloyd… Darkly would be furious with us I bet…"

"Yea… but come… maybe we can have some kind of… ally in them and then, if we both make it to the final round, we can overtake them easy! Even if one of those girls is part demon!" Lloyd grinned, though; he didn't like the idea of using them like that. He really just wanted to help them out because they didn't know how this game worked.

Nrad still looked rather against it, "Hey, I think I heard Sally's voice in there…" the blonde smirked wide.

Brad looked away, blushing because he knew why Lloyd had brought her up to tempt him into helping him out. "Ugh, fine…" the freckled one followed Lloyd until they found a strange metal lenclosure where the sounds were coming from. "H-hello?"

"SHH! I HEAR SOMEONE COMING!" one girl shouted.

"Wait… AREN'T YOU THOSE LOSER DARKLY BOYS?!"

"Hey! We came to help you…" Brad's face fell, recognizing it as Sally's voice who was insulting them.

"Pfft! Help us? Nice one… like we would ever trust you dummies?! We can get out of this… thing by ourselves!" Sally fake laughed. "Come on! Push; and we can probably knock a side panel loose and crawl out!" When they did, the box shrank more, all of them squealing in fear when it happened.

Lloyd sighed, shaking his head at their indignant attitude to solve this by themselves. "We figured it out… don't force anything… just… there should be a hidden switch… this is designed to test our problem solving…"

Brad heard a whooping noise, "Lloyd, we better hurry! I think one team headed back already…"

"Kay… just one sec…" the green eyed boy watched to see if the girls could figure it out.

The box then folded back. It had contained Sally, the winged girl, Ruby, and another blonde girl a bit older. "Why the hell would you help us like that!? Are you two stupid or something?!" The blonde asked, not believing they were even hanging around to see if they were okay.

"His idea, not mine…" Brad pointed to Lloyd but tugged on his sleeve, "Now let's gooooo!"

"Well… thanks…" Sally looked down, "Really…"

Brad gave a bit of dorky grin but turned fast to hide it. "I think it's this way!" he and Lloyd tripped forward, rolling right into the center of the maze to find that Gene, Jake, and Aiden were all there, looking defeated even though it was obvious that they were not in last place.

"We're gonna lose… two teams headed back… and… well…"

The two newcomers jumped when the St Maria's girls came in next with the other two. The smallest one triggering a plate that setup more walls for them to solve.

"But we figured it out… they're all puzzles… don't force something that doesn't work, keep working for a solution as fast as you can!" Brad grinned.

"Yea… they're right…" Ruby nodded. "Sophie… Lanie… come on, I bet we could figure something out to get past at least one wall…"

"The only upside here is that the other team can't get in here to retrieve their orb…" The blonde who was the girls' leader pointed to the three pinkish purple items on the pedestal.

Lloyd stepped up to one and frowned, pushing one side, jumping back when he saw there were more down the long stretch he and Brad just came, they were all like spinning, revolver doors that had been set in motion. "Oh crap…"

"There's a switch at the end of the corridor…" Aiden pointed.

"So… who's gonna be the hero and go for it?!" Sally eyed the other nine there. "If you want alliance you can have one for the next two rounds…" she offered, "just get us back to finish line, not in last place behind Spinjago…we'll even make it a tie with you guys…" she folded her arms.

No one was volunteering. Lloyd closed his eyes and sighed, "I'll do it…"

"Oh look, the wannabe villain wants to be a hero even though he's trying to prove that wrong… how ironic…" Gene snorted.

"Shut it creep! Unless you wanna go on behalf of your distinguished team since you clearly are the smartest one of the lot…" Sally snapped, looking back at Lloyd who was grateful for her snarky comment to the boy with the glasses who had been nonstop harassing him. "Go on… and… be careful…"

"Right…" Lloyd swallowed. What possessed him to stand up and volunteer to do this!? Maybe Gene was right about him…

The blonde took in a breath. _"Okay… so… this is all in time… don't force it… go through with it…"_ he didn't want to think of what would happen should he go too late or soon and get smacked around by the revolving panels. It looked like it would hurt an awful lot if that did happen. He suddenly was brought back to something he remembered about his parents.

* * *

><p><em>The two year old watched his parents in the backyard. He would always enjoy watching them mess around in play fight for his entertainment. One thing he always loved seeing though was those colorful tornados of energy that they knew how to create. They had such control even though they would be spinning around in a whirlwind of color and power. <em>

_If he remembered correctly, he begged them to let him be a ninja with them. _

_"Lloyd… we'll teach you when you're older…" he mother would always say as she ruffled his hair. "But for now… no fighting… you could spin out or hurt yourself… you need control… and a good teacher…" she glanced up at her husband, "Or two…"_

* * *

><p>How he would always hope for that. He couldn't believe had forgotten such a nice little memory of wanting to be a ninja. He didn't know how long he was standing there, but it was for quite a while apparently.<p>

"What!? The hero's scared now!? Look at that!"

"GENE!" Jake shouted.

Lloyd closed his eyes and stepped forward. He didn't know how he was doing it, but he was moving along with the motion of the whirling panels. _"They said it took control… and focus…" _By the time he opened his eyes he was safely on the other side. He glanced back, slamming his fist against the correct panel and the rotating doors sunk back down into the floor. "Now grab an orb and let's go guys! Before Spinjago can make it here and beat us!"

"That was incredible… I didn't know you were so… you were like a ninja the way you just… moved! You're like… some natural at it!" Aiden gaped at the younger boy's skill.

He looked down, "Well… from what I did remember… my dad mentioned that he was a ninja… and so was my mom… they were all raised and trained since they were younger than me… they used to promise me they would teach me too if I wanted it…"

"Incredible… looks like you're gonna be some asset to us after all," Sally smirked, punching his shoulder. "Maybe you could even show us how you did that!"

Lloyd weakly smiled, looking at the cobblestone trail as they ran,_ "No… no more ninja thoughts… I'm gonna be like my dad…"_

* * *

><p><em>Dear Mrs. Garmadon,<em>

_ Lloyd's team managed to come in tie as second to last with another school, we were shocked to see they came through. They were in there a while and we thought something bad happened in all honesty, but he is fine. The invitation to come is always open to you and your family. I'm sure you're quite proud, your son seems to be a real asset, he was the one that solved the puzzle and showed exemplary work. We look forward to seeing how well he continues to do; we have higher hopes now for him._

- _Vice Principal Andromeda Stevenson _

Misako let herself smile just a bit, though it was sad. "Already… he's already becoming a little warrior… I hope you win this baby… though I'm not proud of what I've done… I'm happy to know your safe and more people are proud of you… you're learning a lot…"

She looked down, "But this also might mean you're getting close to your own destiny… don't be too good and heroic now… stay safe baby… one day we'll be together again… and I hope it will be soon… but I don't seem to be any closer than I was…" she folded the letter and put it in her desk drawer with the other one she got a week earlier. "I love you…"

She looked out the window at the city, wondering what the future would have in store for them all.

**Oh my gosh that one was a doozy eh? The next ones won't be so long though, I promise, if anything, some I might just highlight... but I wanted to show Lloyd being pulled towards the former dreams of being a ninja...**

**Also a snippet of Morrow and Wu again, they'll be back more in the next chapter for sure. Let's see how long I'll end up dragging this out... like I always say, I keep dragging this story on! I know I must end it... but it will be in 2016 I guess lol... **

**Thanks for reading guys :D **

**~Mar**


	123. The Right Choice

"COME ON LLOYD!" Brad and Aiden poked their heads under the door that was slowly closing, barely any space left as the green eyed boy had to roll along the ground, just barely making it underneath. The five… well, four, because Gene was not laughing, ruffled his hair and helped him dust his sweatshirt off.

"Third place! Alright!" Jake jumped. "And this is only round four! I can't believe we're not getting eliminated yet!" he looked at the other teams. "You know who's going out first since it's finally their third loss tonight!" he chuckled darkly.

Spinjago was eliminated that night of course, for once; they did even worse than Darkly for more than three rounds in the first half. It had been almost six months since these games began. Teachers and staff naturally needing time to set up all the arenas they were competing in, it was a process.

Lloyd felt good, like he was on top of the world and yet they were technically somewhere drifting to the bottom of the ranking list now that they were at the bottom of the food chain again with Spinjago eliminated, but they decided to follow the blonde and keep their heads up and positive.

"Shame the pact with St. Maria's ended… they helped a lot…" Brad mumbled a bit, looking over at Sally and the other girls who were casually talking amongst themselves.

She looked over and smirked, coming over to them, "You losers did pretty good… maybe we will make it to the last round together… just try not to get out before that can happen!"

Brad clammed up so Lloyd stepped in, "Hah! We're making it all the way to end! And you can count on that!" the nine year old proudly proclaimed to the other four. "I'm sure we'll even come out as the winners this year!"

"Hmm… right…" Ruby mumbled. "Then that's a promise… we'll face off in the end!"

"You bet!" the two high fived, both looking forward to it.

The principal was watching from a distance, once the five boys turned to head in for the night, he stopped them, "First off… keep it up because you'll have to keep doing better if you plan on surviving the rest of this…" Lloyd smiled brightly, "But you're not here to make friends…"

"But the St. Maria's girls are really nice! They're not like the others teams are to us! They were even willing to stick it out and help us until the final round so we could face off…" the green eyed boy frowned now.

"That's nice… so expose that little weakness you just found like a true villain… you'll have to beat them eventually anyways… go ahead and play nice and when they finally trip up… don't help them back up!" Darkly laughed and turned on a heel to walk away from the five.

Gene snorted, "He's right… look at you Lloyd… all soft still," he jabbed his finger in the back of the blonde's head and walked on, "Don't be late to bed or you won't get breakfast tomorrow," he reminded him of that rule.

Lloyd fell behind the others but made it to bed. What the principal and Gene said, about leaving the girls behind and never help them… it put a pit in his stomach. It was just another subtle reminder that he was trying so hard to fit in around there. _"It's okay… because it'll never come to that… they're good… they won't slip up and I won't have to turn my back on them…"_ the boy kept thinking as he fell asleep.

* * *

><p>Morrow was turning five in a few months and was very excited for it. He stared with wide, gray eyes as he peeked in from the doorway at the green gi Wu was dusting off and cleaning as he did every few months to keep it in good condition. He smirked a bit, knowing that he was going to get to wear it soon. Wu turned around, knowing he was there. He chuckled when the boy hid behind the wall.<p>

"I know you are there Morrow… there is no use in hiding from me!" he walked around the corner and caught the boy in his arms who started squealing with laughter. He had felt so much lighter and happier with the boy around, _"So this must be what it feels like to be a father…"_ he thought to himself. _"Is this how my brother felt?"_

"Wu! Stop it!" he laughed more as Wu tickled him.

The sensei finally stopped, "I promise, on your birthday in a few months, you may wear the robes… but not right now! You must be patient little one!"

"But when are you gonna test me to see if I'm the green ninja!? The robes won't mean a thing! I wanna know! I'm ready! I know I am!" he squirmed in Wu's arms more.

The blonde man shook his head, still smiling, "I'm sorry Morrow, but we should wait a little bit longer for _that_…" he sighed. "Besides to test you, you would need to be in the presence of the golden weapons… and we will have to do some travelling for that one". He set the boy down, ruffling his hair. "For now… don't stop your training and trust me, you are the only one I believe in to be the green ninja… and I'm normally right about these things!"

Morrow excitedly hopped around at hearing that news and suddenly hugged Wu's leg tightly, "I love you sensei Wu…" he said.

Wu suddenly felt that ugly feeling of guilt once more; Morrow shouldn't be calling him sensei; he should be saying 'dad'. "Morrow…" he swallowed, looking down. His son's pale gray eyes looked up at him with curiosity, but he was still smiling at him, "I… I…" there it was again, something that kept stopping him, "I wanted to know if you wanted to go down into town with me… I needed to go shopping and… would like some company…"

_"Stupid… stupid stupid!"_

"Okay!" he chirped and ran off to find his jacket and slipped his sandals on, "I'm ready!" he shouted a minute later.

_"Oh he's so cute… my precious Morrow…"_ Wu kept thinking, "Okay so—Morrow… I'm coming…" he swallowed, catching himself, _"I need to tell him… I need to… but I can't… he won't love me back anymore if he knew what happened between him and Sayu…" _he let out a breath, shaking his head and grabbed his staff, letting the clueless boy hold his hand as they walked down the steps.

* * *

><p>When Lloyd didn't know what to do about something… there was only one place he could go where he would never be judged for his feelings and he could cry freely. Garmadon let out a groan when he saw his son was waiting for him in the middle of the throne room. "Lloyd… you didn't have an escort when you came down here… did you?"<p>

"No…" he looked down, pulling on the sleeves of his sweater, shaking his head meekly.

Garmadon noticed this change in tune; his son was never this quiet when he came to visit him. He was always super excited and happy, jumping into his arms and happily and loudly telling about what was going on… then again; the last time he saw Lloyd was two weeks ago, right before the fourth challenge in the tournament… perhaps something had happened…

"Buddy… is… something wrong?" he got down on a knee so he could see eye to eye with his small son. "What happened? Did… you get expelled or something?" he slightly hoped that was the case when he tilted Lloyd's head back to see his face better.

The blonde looked back at him, shaking his head, "No… we got third place… it's just… if someone needed help… what would you do? If they were hurt or dying or… anything… even just got left behind… would you let them?"

Garmadon was silent. That was a rather dark question for a nine year old to be asking. "Lloyd… I… where is this coming from? What happened to you?" he skirted around giving an answer for the time being.

The nine year old shrugged a bit, sniffling, "Mr. Darkly… told me that this team… we get along good… and… they're nice to us unlike the others… he told me that I would have to turn my back on them if they needed help… would you help them? Someone said that people have died doing this… I don't want them to die if I could help… but I don't wanna be expelled either if we don't get first place in the end of this…"

The dark lord pulled the boy into a tight hug, "I know how you feel… just remember son… it's really lonely being at the top… and I know better than anyone else… I hurt people… and did a lot of things that led me to this very moment down here…"

"… did you hurt mom?"

"Yes… I did… very badly…" he finally admitted to it.

"She said I looked like you… is that why she doesn't wanna see me anymore?"

"Oh Lloyd…" he sadly smiled, caressing the boy's cheek. "You can't even remember what she looked like… can you?" he quietly asked, closing his eyes. "I don't blame you for forgetting… we all start to slowly lose our memories at that age…"

"I only remember what you told me…" the boy closed his eyes tightly, enjoying the hug.

"Lloyd… don't try so hard to be bad that you lose all the good in your life…" he told the nine year old. "Can you promise me that?"

"Okay…" Lloyd mumbled. "I'll try to dad…"

"Good…" Garmadon breathed, hoping his son really would hold that promise when it came time to make a decision. "Always remember that I'm here for you when you need me…"

Lloyd pulled away, "I… I don't have school tomorrow… can I stay down here with you?"

The dark lord smiled back, nodding a bit, "Of course… you can go back tomorrow evening if you really wanna stay here… away from those horrible classmates of yours…" He picked the boy up, "Now… come on, let's go," he grabbed Lloyd's small backpack for him. "You can stay in my room again," he nuzzled the blonde more.

* * *

><p>The next day Lloyd had returned to find the other four were in his dorm on Gene's bunk, looking over a piece of paper that looked to be for the next challenge. He dropped his bag on his bed and ran over to go see what it was all about. "Hey guys, whatcha-"<p>

"Oh look, crybaby's back," Gene looked up, chuckling. "Ran back to daddy for the night did you? Weakling…"

Brad was keeping quiet this time when he normally would be the first to call Gene out for picking on Lloyd so needlessly. Lloyd just shook his head and barged his way into the conversation, trying to ignore the rude one, "I asked; what are you guys doing?"

Jake glanced at him, "This time we get a bunch of dumb shapes and stuff… and none of us know what it means…" he showed Lloyd this one. "I doubt we can solve this one… we may had gotten the last couple of clues but this time… I'm lost completely…"

The green eyed boy let out a sigh, it was just going to keep getting hard it seemed. "Well…" he scratched his cheek a bit, "Maybe it's… like a map or something?"

"What do you mean?"

"Uh… well… this thing looks like the courtyard's shape… this looks like the dragon statue…" Lloyd pointed to the objects. "This kind of looks like it would be the school… ya know?" he looked back up. "It almost looks like… it's gonna be an obstacle course maybe…? That's what the x's and o's are?"

"And how do we know you're right?! For all we know you can be completely wrong about this!" Gene accused.

"But…" Lloyd tried to speak up to defend himself.

"But nothing, you're the smallest out of all of us and just because you were right about one or two things doesn't make you so smart! I'm the genius here! Me!" the red head snapped and got up. "I don't even know what you're doing on this team! I bet if we had someone different, we would be in the lead by now!"

Aiden and Jake exchanged glances, "Okay… sort this out because you two have some issues it looks like… for now… we're gonna consider the obstacle course idea and hope that in two weeks, we'll be right about that… we'll see you guys later…"

Brad let out a sigh, sitting up and crossing his legs on the bed, "Gene… will you just calm down already? You're been raging about this all morning…"

"What's his problem?" Lloyd looked to the black, curly haired boy that was his friend. "He seemed fine yesterday! I leave and come back and I'm just some piece of crap to him again!" Gene glared at him.

Brad folded his arms, "You went to see your dad obviously… right?"

"Don't you tell that idiot a thing Brad!"

"Shut it Gene! He's not stupid you know! You just don't wanna admit that with all your scheming and work… you'll just… you can't always seem the obvious right in front of you and Lloyd can!"

"How dare you!" he looked back to Lloyd, "Say that I am oblivious to the obvious! How can you solve this crap greenie!? How did you come up with the idea for a map!?"

Lloyd meekly shrugged seeing that Gene's face was almost as red as his hair again. "I… my… my mom… she… I remembered she used to show me a lot of excavation maps and stuff when I was little and lived with her and I guess I just remembered stuff… it looks like the landmarks and stuff from above just like the work she used to do…"

"Wait… excavation maps… Lloyd! You're a genius!" Brad smiled wide.

Gene threw a fit again at the use of that word to describe Lloyd. "I… wait, what?! What did I say that makes me a genius!?"

"Excavation maps! These circles here! I bet we'll have to dig them up!" Brad pointed, showing the others two what he was talking about. "It's almost like a scavenger hunt I bet! And… oh great…" he stared at the x's on there as well, "I guess we'll have to figure out what's a trap and what's a treasure…"

"I wonder if… it isn't two weeks until the next challenge! I bet it's two weeks before the challenge is complete!" Gene suddenly forgot his anger at Lloyd to look at that one detail. "Come on! Let's get started before someone else figures it all out!"

Lloyd nodded, "Okay! I'll go tell Sally and-"

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Gene stopped him, "Tell them what!? You can't leak this! We have an advantage! Remember what Darkly told you?! This a cut throat game Lloyd and I bet whoever gets the most stuff dug up is gonna win this round and be saved from getting booted again anytime soon!"

Brad was again, silent on the matter.

Lloyd sighed, shaking his head, "Fine… whatever… I'll keep quiet about it… no one will know…" he shoved his hands in his pockets. What they couldn't see though, was that he was crossing his fingers. "I'll just go find Jake and Aiden… and we can get started tomorrow…"

"Good!" Gene laughed and ran off.

Brad caught Lloyd by the shoulder, "You… about earlier… what Gene said… he's jealous…" Lloyd blinked. "His dad called the school this morning… he's not happy that we're technically in last place now with the elimination of the other school… and… well, said that he can't let Gene come back home for the break next month too…"

Lloyd raised an eyebrow, still not sure about why he was the pin cushion again.

"Don't you get it? Your dad loves you… our dad's… well… especially Gene's… only cares about grades and looks of a family business… you think when Gene's home people actually have time to spend with him? His dad's always away and never comes to see him here. They barely talk… he's just jealous is all…"

Lloyd then smirked a bit at hearing those words, "He's jealous of me!? Mister almost perfect grades and social standing in the school… _is jealous of me_?!"

Brad looked a bit concerned for his friend's change in tune at that news, normally, from his experience, Lloyd would be a comforter, not a gloater. "Why are you happy about that!? Lloyd, it's horrible that his life's like that! Pin cushion or not, you shouldn't be rude back to him!"

"Well then, he shouldn't be such a jerk to me for all these years! Hah!" he snorted a bit. "This is just too good… does anyone else know about that? Or just you!?"

"Just us now…" he caught Lloyd's arm, "I mean it Lloyd… you start waving this around in Gene's face… you're not gonna get off so easily… Gene has a lot of friends in this school…"

The blonde looked down and sighed, "Yea… fine… whatever…" he mumbled. "But I can at least use it as blackmail or something…"

Brad rolled his eyes, "Think of it however you want… just don't go to start picking a fight… okay?"

"Okay okay…"

* * *

><p>That night was silent, so Lloyd used this as an opportunity to sneak out of the room to find the dorms where the guest schools were staying in. He peered through the door to find the room where the St. Maria girls were. "Sally! Psst! Sally!?"<p>

The brunette sat up slowly in bed and looked around, confused until she looked at her clock. "… Lloyd?" she put her glasses on and stared at the rival with clearer vision. "What the hell are you doing in here?! It's midnight! You're supposed to be in your own dorm!"

"I know… listen… I know the pact is off… but… I wanna keep helping until we both get to the final round…" he pulled out the map. "It's a treasure hunt… we have two weeks to find as much stuff without letting the other teams find out what's going on… help us out and we can split the treasures to get to another tie…"

The girl sighed, "We need to wake up the others first to see if it'll be okay…" she turned the light on. "Hey guys… wake up… we have a proposition before us and we need to settle it now!"

"Sally? What is it? It better be good! You know we need to get enough sleep…" The blonde looked over her should and saw Lloyd there. "Oh… you…"

"He says he figured out the next game Blair… I trust him… he hasn't given us a bad deal in the past…" Sally smiled a bit. "He wants us to continue the pact all the way through to the end of the games so it'll just be us two competing…"

Blair looked at the four girls staring at her. "Oh… fine… it seems like a smart idea anyways… we just have to keep each other from being eliminated…" she scratched behind her ear. "Okay squirt… show us how the game goes and you got a deal…"

Lloyd jumped on her bed and showed her the map, explaining everything he and the others were scheming earlier, looking rather excited.

His dad was right; having friends was a good thing… now he would just have to convince his team of the same thing.

**Aaaay, long time no see... this one took way longer than expected... be prepared for long ones... also, yea, I'm changing it up with Morrow in a small manner... sue me... but yeeea... papa Garmy bringing you good advice right there... **

**Thanks for reading guys! See you around! :D**

**~Mar**


	124. Too Soft

Misako sat in silence, staring at the old paintings in the museum that told the story of the first ninja, the masters that fought in the Stone War, just before Masuta had split the land apart and would set everything up for this fight was drawing nearer by the day.

And all she had to go on was an old stone relic they were restoring at the moment, old tapestries that still could not be understood, a medallion, and scrolls that spoke about the lost Temple of Light and a legend about the Helmet of Darkness and how it would start a Celestial Clock that would count down to the final battle. And her only known factors were that Garmadon was the Dark Lord and Lloyd was the Green Ninja.

But there were too many variables for her, like who would be four ninja of ice, fire, earth, and lightning? How were they to find the Dark Island? When would all of this actually begin happen and how would she know it was starting so she could help!?

She gave up, getting a headache looking and thinking about all of this. "I need to know…" she growled to herself. "I have to… because I'm so certain Wu is completely clueless about all of this…" she chewed her nails and went back to her workspace. "Maybe I should have told him that Lloyd was the green ninja… would he even believe me though?"

Sonia slid in on her desk suddenly, startling her, "You, me, coffee, right now, we're getting out of here for a little bit where the air isn't so stuff…" she tossed her her jacket and pulled her out of the museum to the café at the end of the block.

Misako looked more or less annoyed at the sudden break Sonia was making her take, so what if she would rather be indoors amongst dead relics?! "Was there something you wanted to talk about with me?" she looked at her coffee cup.

The woman across the table sighed and nodded, "Yea… I know you want to prevent this… I have total faith in you… really… you are one of my best friends sweetie and I want to help in any way I can… but… do you honestly think you have the power to make it stop? That people haven't thought about preventing something like this before?"

"What are you saying?"

Sonia took her hand, "I'm saying… it might have to happen Mimi… I don't think this is something you can put to a halt… you are so strong… I've seen you go through so many things… but now I'm sure you're in denial over all of this… and I know that feeling… I don't want you to constantly keep searching for an answer to all of this, finding nothing but disappointment every time… it's been almost five years… it shows on your face every time you come back from discovering something new…"

"I am going to save him Sonny… I cannot give up on him…" Misako looked away. "His life is basically in my hands right now… I was able to save plenty of lives… why can't I save his too!?" she looked angrier. "If I'm so strong and smart like what you say I am then I should be able to!"

The darker skinned woman sadly smiled, looking down, "You of all people should know loss is inevitable… you saved lives, true… but you lost lives as well… and you accepted that you couldn't save them… Rose… Namiko… Kas… Ella and plenty more you made during you year at war… you accepted that their lives were out of your hands… and you tried not to dwell on it…"

Misako's eyes started watering at those memories as Sonia brought them all up. "But this is the man I've known since almost birth… I knew no one but him Sonia… what we had… it was closest relationship I ever had… you all even said you were envious of how close we were… do you know how special our love was? How special he was?"

"He was so special that he had to die… would you rather your son died instead?"

"I don't want to play what ifs and pick between the two… I want both… and I demand it… Masuta was not fair to us… I will not have him control us by hiding knowledge even after he's been dead for almost a decade! I'm going to dig up everything!" she stood up, abandoning what little she had left of her drink. "Thank you for the coffee… I just need a moment by myself…" she walked back into the bathroom.

"You're welcome…" Sonia sighed and sat back in her chair, waiting for her to come back.

"We'll be fine… we'll be fine…" Misako ran her hands through her loosely tied hair. "None of this would be happening if I just…" she stopped herself before she could say the words aloud. _"Marry Wu? Is that really what I have rather done?! Marry the… boy who never wanted to speak up? The one who kept silent while his brother was being mistreated?" _It was a possibility it could have worked out… but she loved every moment spent with Garmadon, good and bad.

"I can't just forget about him now… I… he asked for me to wait for him…" she wiped her tearing eyes. "If I see Wu again… it will not be for romantic purposes… I couldn't…" she shook her head and decided she was calm enough to go back and return to work.

* * *

><p>Lloyd awkwardly stood in front of the other four members of his team, the five St Maria girls behind him with shovels and their own map in hand. "Soo uh… they said we can help each other until the end round if we make sure we get in first place as a tie as much as possible…"<p>

Gene smacked Lloyd out of nowhere, "And you went behind our backs and told them anyways! We said to not let them help us anymore!"

"HEY!" Blair shouted loudly, "How about we stop this!?" she looked to Aiden and Jake, "You want help winning or not?! Because we can do it… never forget that we have more wins than you guys over the years this tournament has taken place… if you would just help us every round… and in the final… when we both make it… it'll be a proper face off… what do you all say to that?! Fair?!"

The two talked it over for a minute and sighed, "Well… we got no choice now that Lloyd spilled the beans to you about this challenge so it's not like we would gain anything by denying your help… fine, it's a deal Blair…"

The blonde let out a breath and nodded, "We'll split it evenly, I promise… no secrets when it comes to this and the last three rounds leading up to the final…"

"If anyone asks, we'll just say that we got detention for skipping class and are forced to dig holes for punishment… so no one catches on, you can fit whatever you find in these," Sophie told the boys who agreed to that idea, passing around small satchels… after all, it wasn't the first time that someone got that for punishment.

What the ten children did not know as they started their treasure hunt, was that Darkly's headmaster was watching them conspire together. _"This might have cost us… don't forget what I told you you stupid child… I know how tricky your girls are Cassandra…_" he growled to himself. _"Don't screw this up you brat… I'm warning you now! You're too soft at heart…"_

It was a long day, the most that the ten children found were about 8 small coins and fell in approximately five pitfalls, two stink bombs, and Jake had to be sent to the nurse's office because he got his foot in a bear trap that was buried in the dirt.

"Okay this is going horribly…" Brad sighed, sitting down and laying back. "These things are so hard to find… like… jeez… their tiny…" he looked at one of the silver circles. "I'm pretty sure we lost some while digging around in the dirt… we should double check…"

"Or maybe this is all just stupid…" Gene mumbled. "Like honestly… I feel like Darkly is really plotting our deaths suddenly… I mean… a bear trap!? A bear trap?! Who puts that in there!" Lloyd rolled his eyes, taking a drink from his water bottle.

"Oh shut it… we all knew that these games were dangerous when we volunteered and tried out to compete in them… we expected all of this…" Ruby laid in the grass, closing her eyes as they took a break.

Lloyd coughed on his water, "Wait…people volunteer for this?! Brad, Gene, and I were threatened to participate or we'd be expelled from here!"

"Ugh… no wonder headmistress Cassandra left that idiot… she's mean, but at least she lets us have a free will… like who does that!? Honestly…" Lanie spoke up; angry at hearing they were forced.

"Left?! What!?" The four remaining boys blinked at that news.

"You guys don't know!? It's why St. Maria's and Darkly's are such rivals… more than Blackthorne or Birchwood… those two go way back… our schools used to be one for a while… until Cassandra didn't like how he treated kids… thinking that he gave no incentive to obey and learn in the ways of alchemy and other types beyond his typical plotting and technical methods… so they split the school, Darkly's kept its name but Cassandra started her own and took all the girls with her… but yea, it used to be coed," Sally scoffed.

"Rumor had it that they had a baby together, and that's the true reason why they split; Darkly kicked her out!" Lanie giggled at the gossip she was sharing. "It's also said that they had a son and Darkly got rights and took him from Cassandra but never treated him like a son, but let him stay in his school exclusively for boys now! So he might very well be in this school right now… though he made him a scholarship student apparently… no offense… those poor kids get treated like trash…"

"You ain't kidding sister…" Ruby laughed, being she was one of those kids, Lloyd agreed with her.

"Rumors are just that… rumors…" Aiden scrunched his nose, "How can you girls stand talking about stuff like this? Honestly! Maybe that's why Darkly left your headmistress, she spent all day yapping…" he shook his head. "I'm going to look for more stuff… after all… we don't much longer until someone found out about this I'm sure…"

The other eight nodded and got up to help once more, though they wondered why Aiden had that sudden outburst like that.

"Aiden seems on edge now since we started talking about the headmasters and stuff…" Lloyd commented, seeing him and Blair working together away from them.

"He always gets worked up over kids who make fun of scholarship students… he is one after all…" Brad rolled his eyes, brushing it off.

Sally shook her head as well, but they all looked up at one another suddenly, "Hey… does… you don't suppose…" she looked over her shoulder at the taller boy, "Where does Aiden live?" she decided to ask first.

"At the school… he's an… orphan…"

The three looked at one another and stared at the leader of Darkly's team. "You don't actually think Aiden's the rumored baby he and Cassandra had… do you?" Lloyd bit his lip, thinking about the idea. It kind of made him sick to think about, he hoped it wouldn't be true and that it was all just a lie the students made up to explain the principals' behaviors towards each other.

"It doesn't matter… it's his business if he really is or not… it's none of our beeswax… Rule number around here is that someone's got a bad past, you don't talk about unless they want to bring it up…" Brad was the one to stop Lloyd and Sally from thinking such things. "Come on guys! Let's just finish this and forget all about it…" he pulled them back to work.

From afar, another team was watching them from the bushes with skeptical looks on their faces, "Okay… sooo… we gotta dig up stuff? That's what these pieces of paper are for?" The boy with the binoculars raised an eyebrow.

"Guess so… that's what it looks like their doing… at night time when they go to sleep… we can finish the job when they aren't looking… I've observed, there aren't any teachers or aids that patrol around here…" the oldest boy laughed to himself. "We're gonna win this year boys… I can feel it in my bones… all we gotta do is stick close to those other kids and we'll be winning this in no time!"

* * *

><p>Garmadon watched from the shadows like he always did, observing people and things when he grew bored of the pathetic creatures he called an army down in the Underworld. It pained him when he saw couples walking together, hand in hand or kissing and hugging and showing affection towards one another. He missed his Misako; he missed everything that he had with her. He clung on to the hope that he could get it all back though.<p>

If there was one thing that kept him going though, it was the fact that he had his plans to overtake Ninjago… maybe then he could make things how he wished, he could walk freely again and comeback and show Misako that there was no longer need to separate herself from him and Lloyd, everything would be fine and they would be safe as long as he was in charge of the world.

He decided to visit his old home, the monastery where he was born and raised among friends, now a place he felt hostility towards. The racks on the walls were empty as normal, no weapons to be seen still. Every since the day the woman his brother had grown attached to left him; he went out on his own quest to hide them all, leaving a single hand drawn map somewhere in the world… and he needed to find it one way or another.

The dark lord was considering leaving when he saw nothing interesting as normal was going on… he stopped when he heard the laughter of a child. He hid in a corner and saw him, the boy with the green in his hair and gray eyes like a stormy sky, much like a woman he had seen before. This piqued his interests.

"Wu! Wu!" he shouted when the front gates shut and the door slid open.

Wu walked through, smiling brightly as he bent over to pick the boy up and hug him. "Well… I've only been gone for two hours…"

Morrow looked down shyly, "I still missed you…"

The sensei squeezed him again and set him down, "Come… let's go have some tea… shall we?" he asked. The boy of wind followed close behind.

Garmadon raised an eyebrow, _"Now… he certainly looks familiar…"_ he thought to himself. _"He looks like her… just like the woman who left here… there is no mistaking it… this is her child…"_ he stopped his thought process for a minute. _"Oh ho… this must mean one thing…"_ he smirked more, _"This has to be my brother's child as well…"_

"I'm tired of waiting sensei Wu… am I gonna be the green ninja or not?"

"I told you Morrow, we have to wait a little bit longer… you're still so young…" Wu answered calmly, still holding a smile on his face as he patted the boy's head and went about his business with his teapot.

_"The green ninja… I… that's right… a warrior who would… defeat me…"_ the dark lord stopped, Wu thought it would be this boy!? _"Oh of course you'd want that… have your son be the one to murder me…"_ he hissed at the thought. He wished so hard he could strangle his brother right there…

Garmadon looked back to Morrow, _"Wait… sensei Wu? Does… ooh… so he doesn't know? He doesn't know that his teacher is really his father… it all makes sense… you got that girl pregnant… and now that this child showed up at your doorstep probably… you're too scared to tell him that he was a mistake you never wanted? Why else would you be doing this… why do you treat him as your son… but he does not know? You proceed to make a worse father than I… you had no right to complain to me about me' abandoning my son'…"_

Wu was smiling so brightly whenever he was around the boy it seemed. The dark lord tried his best to not laugh out loud_, "Oh brother… I wonder… How would you feel if you were separated from the ones you loved…?"_ he decided to leave for now, thinking of something so devilish. _"Okay then Wu… train your boy to be my downfall… I'm certain I can turn this around…"_

* * *

><p>At last the results were going to be revealed, but unbeknownst to Birchwood, it was the ranking, not the actual challenge. Lloyd and Sally's teams were both optimistic they had this one in the bag being they were sure they dug up everything.<p>

The vice principal stood before the students with a smirk on her face, "Now… you were all given a clue two weeks ago… however… the goal was stealth and persistence to complete your task…" The kids looked at each other, "As in… you were supposed to figure out that it was a map… and you had to dig up the treasures before tonight's ceremony without any of the other teams catching on to what you were doing and manage to snag as much treasure from the back field as you could find… so here is the ranking…"

She stepped to the side of the ranking board, "Birchwood… has received zero points… because they did not find and turn in a thing to us before this afternoon…" Lloyd and Sally high fived, the top school just got knocked down on the ranking list. "Ranking in… second and third… in a tie again… is Darkly's and St Maria's… with ten pieces each turned in!"

"WHAT?!" they all let out a yelp, standing up even, except for Jake because his foot was all wrapped up and he didn't have his crutch close enough. "How the hell are we not in tie for the lead?" Gene started pulling on his hair.

"And in first we have Blackthorne! With a stunning win of twenty six! Taking the lead this round! In total, Darkly and St Maria's are at the bottom of the overall ranking, Birchwood still in the lead but with one more loss, they'll be knocked back down indefinitely… the next challenge will have someone voted out if things remain the same… should there be another tie…" she glanced at Lloyd. "There will be a tie breaker and the winner moves on, that is all, have a good night and during the morning assembly will you receive the next challenge clue".

"How did they even know what we were doing?! We never saw them outside digging and stuff! And we were out there every day to make sure!" Blair growled. "And trust me; they aren't smart enough to figure that it was a map… we probably slipped up and they caught us…"

The assembly was dispersed and Lloyd noticed Aiden was pulled to the side where no one could really see them by what looked to be the principal. Lloyd pulled on the other's sweaters and pointed over to where the small hallway was that they disappeared into. The nine snuck over and listened in on the conversation between student and principal.

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry dad… we didn't know that they were going to be in the lead…we thought we both were going to have this… they must had went out during the night and worked on finding more than us… there was no way I could have known about that…" Aiden lowered his head.<p>

"I told you that you are not allowed to call me that; it's sir… especially to you! You are no son of mine you brat… I never asked for you in the first place yet your mother dumped you on me as soon as she found out you were a boy!" Darkly hissed, smacking him once in the side of the head, "Now… go back to the others… I'm not allowed to cheat and help you… then we would be kicked out of this for sure and I refuse to stoop down Albus Blacthorne's level of cheating!" he turned on a heel and walked down the long hallway.

* * *

><p>The other kids quickly ran back where they were waiting for him, awkward smiles. "Hey guys… come on… we'll be getting the next clue tomorrow so… you know…" he scratched behind his head. "Let's just go…" he coughed and started walking back to his dorm. "We'll have two months to prepare or something I guess… better start speculating or… something based on what we've already done…"<p>

Gene, Brad, Lloyd, Ruby, and Sally all looked at one another, concerned now while the others moved on.

**Kay, let's face it, if I showed you all every challenge, then this would drag on to no end and I don't have enough filler stuff with Misako, Garmadon, Wu, and Morrow for this to continue on... and I wanna end this is around 20 chapters or less, so yea, next chapter is another time jump of a few months. **

**So yea, hope that's not some kind of disappointment and does not affect the flow of the story... I'm paranoid about these kinds of things when writing heh... I'm actually almost done with the next chapter as well, so this weekend I can get in a new update. TBH, Ii want to finish it all by the beginning of February... let's see how THAT goes... **

**Thanks for reading guys, I hope you like where all of this is going... because I can promise angsty children for sure owo **

**~Mar**


	125. Left Behind

**Okay... I'm sorry I'm soooo sorry I skipped this one! I don't know how I even did that guys! K, this would clear up some confusion with Garmadon and Morrow I'm certain... damn, I hate myself for screwing this one up... yea, I'm sorry guys... this was an important one...  
><strong>

"I just… can't believe that Aiden Mendez is the son of Cassandra Vargas and Sebastian Darkly…" Brad almost sounded disgusted by this very idea. Sally and Ruby were sitting with the youngest three of the Darkly team today, seeing Aiden and Blair discussing something about the newest challenge clue while Jake was hanging out with Lanie and Sophie nearby.

"I still can't believe this is the second to last challenge… this is all almost over…" Lloyd yawned. "We've been playing for like… more than a year… every challenge is so spread apart…"

"Yea… these things drag out over a year and half to two years anyways… it depends how big and elaborate stuff is, the longest one apparently lasted almost three years, they say it's annual most of the time, but, honestly, it's dumb because it's not once a year every year… maybe in the beginning it was…" Gene said while his nose was in a book.

Lloyd would be turning eleven in just a few months… boy how time just flies when you're stuck in a tournament like this… "I can't wait for this to be over with to be honest…" he sighed. "I'm tired of stupid puzzles and stuff…"

"Same…" Brad rested his head on the table.

"I wish it was my birthday so I could go to the Underworld again for sure…" the blonde sipped his chocolate milk mindlessly.

"I still think it's cool how your dad is the king of the Underworld and he still cares about you and stuff," Sally smiled, "Like… how cool is he? You never let us meet him… do you think we can?"

Lloyd looked at the other four kids seated with him and shrugged a bit, "I guess… like… as long as your nice to me he likes my friends…" him and Gene glanced at one another for a brief moment.

"Well, I don't care…" he shut his book, turning away from the others. "Maybe I don't wanna meet some… low life that's your dad! It's not like he's as evil as my dad is…" he continued to grumble on.

"My dad's the baddest guy ever!" Lloyd slammed his hands down on the table and shouted loudly. Everyone started looking over at them now, but Lloyd didn't care one bit. "He's the biggest, toughest bad guy ever! And he's my dad! You don't have to be some stone cold meanie to be a great villain! He's the best because he's a king with a skeleton army and he loves me too at the same time and always comes to see me!"

"Your dad has too many emotions for him to be great like you claim! Stuff like love just gets in the way!" Gene snapped back. "So shut up because you sound like some stupid kid who lies and makes up stories to look more important! You're the only one here who speaks so highly of his parents! Aren't you so special!?"

"You're just jealous!"

"You're just too stupid!"

"AAAGH!" Lloyd jumped over the table and started rolling around on the ground with Gene, fighting viciously and shouting at one another. It had been a long time since people saw a fight break out between those two; it was more or less like old times for them all, but nonetheless concerning.

Sally and Ruby just watched in horror as Brad let out a tired sigh, standing up and walking over to kick the two apart as hard as he needed to. "How about you both stop being a bunch of jerks!? I'm sick of this! My parents fight at home! You think I wanna see my friends and teammates fighting too!?"

"I'm not your friends you idiots! Especially when you betrayed our friendship to be friends with some noob like him!" Gene shouted. "I never wanted to be on a team with you two! Especially you Lloyd! I am done with hearing how you go on about your dad! Maybe he is evil… how should I know when all I see every day is his failure of a son!?"

Lloyd's face scrunched up in anger before his eyes quickly welled up and pushed Gene away as he ran out.

"Lloyd! Wait!" Sally shouted loudly but the blonde just kept on running. "He didn't mean it!"

"OH YES I DID!"

* * *

><p>When he got to the gates of the school, he pushed right through them, running and not stopping until he must had been a couple miles away, somewhere in the middle of town not far from the boarding school. He took a seat in an alley way, pulling his sweater over his face and starting to cry.<p>

"What do I care?!" he hiccupped. "I… I'm the scariest thing ever…" he wiped his eyes. "I… I'm like dad… just like him… he believes in me…" he wiped his nose on the sleeve of the sweater his mother gave him, the last thing he had left from her.

"Morrow… please… don't run off like that! I don't want to lose you…"

"I'm sorry sensei Wu…"

Lloyd perked up when he heard the semi familiar voice… and that name… "Wait…" he mumbled, looking around the corner to see a man with fading blonde hair and beard. "… Uncle Wu?" When the man turned to walk away with the boy that was with him, he sprang forward, remembering more who the man was. "UNCLE WU!"

Wu jumped when he heard the small voice shout his name. "What!?" he nearly fell over when Lloyd plowed into him without a moment's hesitation. "Lloyd?" he stared into his nephew's emerald green eyes. "Oh my goodness…" he breathed. His heart felt lighter, he couldn't possibly be here by himself! "Oh Lloyd… I've missed you so much…" he hugged the boy. "Look at you…" he chuckled.

"I… I missed you too…" he started remembering good times when his family was complete when he was very young.

"Oh look at you… you've really grown up, haven't you? Where's your mother?" Wu looked around with a bright and hopeful smile. Lloyd pulled away and he seemed concerned by his actions, "Lloyd… where's mommy?"

The ten year old let out a sigh, "So you haven't seen her either…" he pointed down the road, "She sent me to a boarding school when I was five… daddy found me and…" he wiped his eyes again. "I'm running away though… I hate it there! I'm going to the Underworld to live with daddy!"

Morrow was standing back, bewildered by this exchange with the boy he never met before. He then remembered seeing a little boy that looked like him in several pictures Wu kept around the monastery. He tilted his head and wondered why he never heard much about him until now. _"Sensei looks like he loves him an awful lot…"_ he looked down.

Wu shook his head, "Oh Lloyd… I'm so sorry this is happening… really…" he bit his lip, "Listen… don't… don't hate me for this…" he picked the boy up, "But I need you to go back… and I'm taking you…"

"WHAT?! WHY?!" Lloyd tried to push away and keep on running but Wu hugged him tighter.

"Your mother had a reason for putting you in this school… I just know it… come on… no more running away from this… you're going to be eleven soon! It's time that… well… you started growing up and facing scary things…" he swallowed. He really didn't want Garmadon to get Lloyd fulltime; his nephew was impressionable and close to his brother as it was. "Maybe mommy's going to come back when the time is right…"

He then stopped and looked back at Morrow who was still standing there, "I'm so sorry Morrow, but we can't go back home yet… I need to drop my nephew off at his school…"

The five year old nodded and followed behind. Lloyd looked down at him, raising an eyebrow, _"huh… I wonder who that kid is…"_ he shook his head and just closed his eyes, wondering what he would have to face when he got back to school.

* * *

><p>Wu left as soon as he plopped Lloyd at the gates, warning him to stay and be good and promising that he would try and visit now that he knew where to find him. The green eyed boy turned and headed inside to find that Brad and Sally were actually worried about him since he was gone for several hours. He barely talked, though they started going over ideas and strategies for the challenge tomorrow.<p>

He didn't want to contribute much, he just felt like everyone didn't want him around and rather him stay in school, _"I bet Wu didn't want another kid to worry about…"_ he thought more about the toddler that was with him, _"I wonder who he was… maybe he has a student or something now…"_ he shrugged and looked back up at the others talking around him.

"It sucks when you're left behind by your parents and stuff… huh?" Ruby attempted in a conversation with the boy who shrugged as a response. "My mom said that my dad didn't want me… or her for that matter… he was drunk…" she coughed. "He's in jail or something I think… at least I know she cared to try and get me into a good school where people wouldn't make fun of my wings…" she looked over her should and sighed.

"Hey… mind paying attention?" Aiden snapped when he heard Lloyd and Ruby talking. "What's the big deal? Okay, Lloyd's back, we can finish this… unless we're all forgetting we need to get the first and second place tomorrow or else one of us is out?"

"Hey! He's been through a lot… especially since Gene was a jerk and chased him out of the school this morning…!" Sally spoke up, glaring at Gene next who shrank a bit under her gaze. "Mind showing some sympathy?! We know what we'll probably have to do tomorrow… they set up a rock climbing wall behind the school… it's straight forward enough, we can adapt easily…"

"We are the last of three schools left! And Blackthorne managed to survive this long! We can't afford for either of us to get in third place! Especially my team!" Aiden raised his voice.

"What's the big deal? You won't get expelled if we lose… you and Jake are fine…" Brad sighed.

The brunette looked away, "Yes… I will… Darkly forced me to be the team captain and said my scholarship will get revoked… and I have no one to actually pay for me to be here like you Lloyd… I have no place to go… I can't survive outside of here…" he told them bitterly. "You all know it, I'm an orphan okay?!"

"Are you really?" Lloyd croaked, looking up.

"Excuse me?"

"Come on… it's not the truth… is it?" Lloyd sighed, "Sure, maybe you're disowned… but are you really all alone? Are your parents dead and gone far away where you can't see them? You seem close enough to the principal… he treats us like crap and yet you still look up to him and respect him more than any other student here! Even Gene…"

The other nine were watching him. "Okay… Darkly's my dad… big deal… he'll kill you when you find out though… he hates anyone having dirt on him…"

"Pfft who cares? We can't just erase from our minds… maybe your old man could use so… persuasion in being nicer to us…" Gene and Lloyd looked at one another, seeming to be allies for once on something.

Aiden covered his face, "This is why I didn't want anyone to find out! He's going to know that I just confirmed the rumors! He can still get me kicked out of here even if we win you know! Even you guys for digging where it wasn't your business!"

"If he wants us to shut up, he'll be nicer… they do have a point Aid," Jake smirked wide, joining their side.

"Unbelievable…" he shook his head. "We can't just fight the system… we need to live under it… and no one touches the principal… you can do anything you want… but the moment you make a move against the big guy… you're not a villain… you're a rebel… you can't elude to you ever having those tendencies… especially you Lloyd… he doubts you too much as it is and I don't want to see you get kicked out… win or lose…"

Blair wiped her face, shaking her head, "Look at us…" she looked around at the others. "We're just a bunch of kids… why the hell are we even talking and worrying about this? Why can't we just be little troublemakers and be done with it? Why is it so hard to continually try to be bad?"

Lloyd stared into nothing, remembering old words. _"Just… be a good boy…"_ He shut his eyes; those were the last words Misako had told him. 'Be good' in a school that was supposed to make him bad? How was he supposed to do that?! _"That's it… I can't… I can't be good anymore… Blair's right… everything would be easier if I stopped being good…"_

"Face it… we're all just pathetic losers who got left behind… whether they all meant it or not…" Jake sighed, folding his arms and sitting back in his seat. "It's just a matter of time we accept it… no matter what our parents have told us… they're not coming back… are they?"

Gene snorted, "Well I don't know about you but I get to go hom-"

"And that home is rather empty and lonesome… isn't it Gene?" Sally cut him off. "Jake and Blair are right… you don't go to these schools because they truly care about us and want us to get an education… it's not how boarding schools work… in the end… you just get left behind… and the only thing you have left is what little friends you make… and even then you need to learn to keep up with each other…"

Lloyd looked away from them all, he didn't want this. He wished he never came here, whether they were being nice or not. Even then, they would leave him behind too…

* * *

><p>Morrow did everything Wu told him, no matter what, even if he made a bit of a fuss, he would do as he was told. Garmadon knew that this would grow boring for the five year old one day soon if Wu continued as he was all the years he had known him.<p>

He also couldn't risk things if Morrow was in fact Wu's ace in the hole to defeat him. He had to start making some kind of move now.

Thankfully, Wu had left to go to town, letting Morrow sit by himself today. Normally the boy would just watch TV or something quiet. Garmadon smirked wider, not believing he had a chance so soon. When Morrow looked to his left he froze, seeing there was an odd shadow on the wall. "Hello?" he swallowed.

"So you must be Morrow…" Garmadon moved a bit. "I'm Wu's big brother…"

Morrow flinched, he remembered hearing that Wu's brother was evil, but not allowed to be in the physical world like they were. "I… what do you want? Wu's not here?"

"Oh I know…" he quickly said and looked at the green ninja gi Wu promised to him, "Odd thing that robe… it was said that whoever got to where it would defeat a dark lord… fun fact… that dark lord is me…" he chuckled a bit seeing five year older's strange expression. "Tell me… what element have you learned first?"

"I… well… I can just use air…"

"Come on… you're joking?" Morrow shook his head. Garmadon rubbed his hands together, "Well… how does my brother even know that you are his green ninja?"

"He said I had to be! He said I have strong powers…"

"Over wind… how can he tell if you have never used earth, lighting, fire, or ice?" the older brother posed the question to the poor student who started to think. "Has he tested you yet?"

Morrow shook his head again, "I… no… he said he would soon though! He says he thought there could be no one else but me!"

"There my brother goes again… lying to keep people happy…" Garmadon quickly came back with. "Listen kiddo… Wu can't tell you anything… I never trust him and neither should you… he never knows what he's talking about and I think he's going to be wrong…"

"But he believes in me!"

"Believing in someone is not enough to make him the green ninja…"

Morrow looked like he was getting angry now, "I am the green ninja! If Wu says I am, then I must be!"

Garmadon laughed, "You do have the spirit of a ninja, I will say that… I would just hate to see that cute little face of yours get heartbroken when it's discovered he's lying to you to keep you around…" he decided that he better leave before Wu could come back and see him here, "I guess I should go… good luck with your testing then… it seems brother loves you quite a lot! _Like a son even…_ I hope he's not lying to you dear master of the wind…"

"Wait…" Morrow spoke up but the dark lord had left his presence.

Not five seconds later Wu came in through the door, "Oh good, Morrow, here, can you help me with-"

"I wanna be tested to be the green ninja! Right now!" the five year old stomped angrily.

The blonde blinked at the sudden demand, Morrow was normally so sweet, now he looked furious. "I… okay…" he nodded a bit and set his bags down on the counter, "Okay Morrow…" he scratched the back of his head, "I guess we could wrap up some training and on your birthday I'll take you to the golden weapons and we can find out together…"

The black and green haired boy loudly sighed, his birthday was about two months away, he didn't want to wait that long! At least Wu gave him an answer and a day they would leave, he guessed he could wait a little bit longer.

"Now… go wash up… we can go out to eat tonight and tomorrow… I'll start letting you do the more complex stuff if you really want to…"

As soon as he said the words, Morrow bolted right out to do as he was told.

Wu glanced at one of the old pictures with young Lloyd in it. "It was nice to see you again nephew…" he smiled weakly. "I really missed those eyes… I'll come see you soon… you must be so lonely…" he walked right past the hallway, failing to see someone watching from the darkest shadow.

Lord Garmadon smirked wide with excitement, he performed step one, instill doubt in the boy. Who knew if he was really the green ninja, all he knew was that he needed to buy a little more time to find the weapons' map. He narrowed it down to only a few places.

_"My time is coming very soon… brother… just wait and see… you better be on guard…"_

**Geez... how could I forget this...? This one was important and I just... good job at me... I hope everything makes more sense now... *facepalms***


	126. Doubt

The remaining fifteen children stared up at the rock climbing tower that was built for this. They knew it could not be an easy task despite how harmless it looked. If it was made by Darkly and a board of evil principals and teachers, it was very far from harmless.

"How this will work…" the vice principal started, "Is it's a relay climb… one by one you must climb to the top, grab a glass ball with your designated school crest, and make it back down to tag the other person. On a side note, you cannot drop your ball… if it breaks you will not get the point for it. The one who drops the least and makes it back first will be ranked accordingly…"

"Sounds easy enough!" the Blackthorne leader laughed cockily.

"Oh and I forgot…" she pressed a button; the separate sections rotate… try not to fall off… plus… no harnesses… you only get several ropes attached to the top should you need an extra support… but it will be a free climb…" she glanced at Ruby, turning it off again, "And you cannot use your wings… you will have to strap them down to ensure you don't use them to your team's benefit at all…"

The black hair girl shrank down, feeling terrified now, "What happens if I fall!? I need them to land! I'm not good at this stuff!"

Vice Principal Stevenson looked to be considering when Darkly walked over and leaned down with a smirk, "Then _don't fall_ Miss Ruby… simple as that!"

Lloyd started shaking, he had no idea it would be so tall, it must had been at least thirty feet… maybe more now that he thought about it, and it was in fact around forty five feet high. Brad and Gene were also look rather nervous at this. Gene had made it this far, but he was so not physically inclined like the others on his team.

Aiden and Jake looked unfazed by this challenge and they could rely on them to be quick about going up and getting back down at a fast pace to start them off. Even Sally looked excited to start even though she was the smallest one there.

The boys from Blackthorne all started laughing at the girls being they were the only full girl team in the running to make it this far. "You only made it this far because you had help from those losers I bet!" one shouted. Blair decided she would go first since the other captains were going. The Blackthorne boys started whistling as she took her position to start along with Aiden and the team leader from the third school.

"Hot damn look at that one!" one shouted. "What's a sexy gal like you even doing in these games!?" one of the older ones hooted at her. "You gonna climb in a skirt hot stuff?"

Blair didn't seem to let them bother her in the slightest, which surprised Lloyd at first. "Doesn't matter because I'll sweep her off her feet for sure either way!" The blonde girl looked over to the scruffy leader with the greasy black hair. "Name's Eric by the way… boy would I love to see if the carpet matches the drapes…" he smirked at her, thinking he was so smooth and witty.

She rolled her green eyes and grabbed the rope first. "That's nice… and I'm Blair…" she smiled a bit, looking cuter than normal. "And the only way you get to see my underwear is when I pass you and you can take a nice look up my skirt," he eyes flashed as she had more of a sinister smile that completely threw the boy off. "Consider looking at my ass your consolation prize for losing to me!"

Mrs. Stevenson fired off the gun and Blair winked before hoisting herself up, leaving Eric in the dust, speechless to her threat against him. Aiden was also not far behind her. "Hey! Watch it, they're gonna start making this thing turn! Don't get knocked off now! This thing is tall!"

"I've got a tight enough grip… I'm pretty good at this believe it or not," she narrowed her eyes and looked behind, grabbing one of the swinging ropes passing by her, using that, she pulled herself up more, making sure she wouldn't hit against the course wall. "Aiden! Blackthorne creeper; right by your foot!"

Aiden felt Eric grab his leg as he tried to get higher. He sighed, quickly dropping his leg down and kicked him in the face which in return, released his leg. Blair was the first to the top, but he joined soon after, sliding down the rope and tagging Jake who started. Sophie was the next to run up for St. Maria's.

By the time those two were half way up, Eric climbed down, though he almost dropped his glass ball and fell. He looked at Blair who smirked at the fact Aiden gave him a bloody nose, "Get a nice view?" she flipped her hair sassily, letting her short skirt swing around her legs as she teased them all.

"You're team's going down you bitch!" he shouted. "Don't go easy on them just because they're stupid little girls! In fact, go after them as much as you can! Don't let them get even second place!"

However, the second boy slipped a bit going down and dropped one of the five glass balls he was supposed to retrieve for his team, setting them in third place for sure now. Gene was forced to go up next, needless to say he held on to his glass ball and the rope for dear life while Lanie was in fact, a super excellent climber, she didn't even need the rope to help her at all, completely free climbing.

"How!?" Gene looked at her. "You and Spphie were amazing!"

"Sophie and I are twins and our adopted mom used to take us rock climbing a lot when we were little… I was the best…" Sophie rolled her eyes at her sister's bragging.

Brad and Sally were up next, all the boys laughing being she was the smallest. "Oh look at her! You gonna do it all by yourself four eyes!? No one's gonna help you?"

Sally bolted forward, jumping right on without hesitation. She wasn't as good as Lanie was, but she was good enough to hold her own for her age and size.

Brad was doing about the same when one of the older boys from their rival team grabbed her wrist and she lost her grip while he continued up, finally having his team catch up to them. Brad caught her arm so she could get a better grip again. "You okay?!"

"YES! COME ONE! We're almost done here! We can actually win this!" she looked up, "You kick him in the side on the way down… I'll punch him in the face," she grabbed a rope and swung around, Brad doing the same. It landed so perfectly that boy slipped the rest of the way down, dropping his glass ball.

"ALRIGHT!" Lloyd shouted with a big smile. He actually was enjoying this, it was rather exciting… but his turn would soon come and he didn't know if he was prepared or not.

"Look at that Sebastian… our kids really do have a truce after all… why can't we be like that, hmm?" Cassandra smirked at him wide. "Seems they get along better than we ever did… your boys have actual values and honor… unlike you…"

"Shut up, in case you forget… this only means that my boys are going to beat those girls in the last challenge… and you know how it will go…" he snapped at her. "They'll soon forget they were ever friends with your girls!"

The brunette scowled at him and looked away, paying attention to Sally whom she patted on the head.

Darkly grabbed Lloyd by the sweatshirt collar before Brad could get down the rest of the way, "Don't you screw this up brat… you drop it… it's going to be all over… do not sacrifice a thing if those girls are in danger… you are not here to make friends!" he glared at Aiden next. "You two especially show signs of drop out material… ironically, you both are under scholarship… don't make me think that anymore… you've done well so far… prove me wrong about you Garmadon!" he hissed at the youngest boy. "Prove to me that you're ambitious enough to continue here before these games are done…"

Lloyd swallowed and started forward when Brad tagged his shoulder to prompt him to start. He huffed a bit a quarter of the way up. Ruby was in the same boat. She was terrified of slipping because her wings where rendered useless for this challenge. Meanwhile the last boy from Blackthorne was gaining on them, turning out to be a good climber and was prepared to take them down.

"Just go on… our teams haven't dropped anything… so we can't slip this up now…" she rolled her eyes. "But really… you can't afford to drop one at all… I'll take care of him… I'll be fine…"

Lloyd just nodded and bit and started up more, trying so hard to not slip.

Ruby was slowly making her way up as quickly as her shaking legs could help, avoiding the other boy as much as possible, but he saw she was weak and the perfect target. All three made it to the top and started down when Blackthorne's competitor slid down the rope faster, grabbing Ruby's leg, making her slip.

It was all in slow motion for Lloyd; he knew he couldn't drop his ball, but he couldn't let Ruby fall over fifteen feet to her ruin! Lloyd tried to remember everything he had learned throughout the years that had led up to this very moment, knowing it would help him to make a decision.

_"You are not here to make friends! You're here to win!"_

Lloyd quickly shook his head. That wasn't right at all, that was cruel and he didn't ever want to think like that naturally… no… what was it?

_"I know how you feel… just remember son… it's really lonely being at the top… and I know better than anyone else… I hurt people… and did a lot of things that led me to this very moment down here…"_

_"Just… be good…"_

_"Lloyd… don't try so hard to be bad that you lose all the good in your life… Can you promise me that?"_

Lloyd could remember what little his parents told him throughout his few years with them, he let go of his prize and reached out a hand to help Ruby, deciding this was the right choice… but he was still too late.

The whistle blew and it was done. There was nothing he could change, his hand had slipped up; he waited a second too long.

"Blackthorne lost the most! They're out! St. Maria's and Darkly's move on!"

Lloyd slowly made his way down the rest of the way, staring at Ruby. She was still breathing and alive, but she was unconscious too with the four other girls around her. "Why the hell did you hesitate to catch her?! I saw that! You were going to make the choice to let her fall! Weren't you?!" Sally ran over, yelling at him. "I thought we were friends now!"

"You aren't here to make friends Miss Sally!" Darkly snapped at her, giving her the same lecture. "You are here to win! It is Ruby's fault she slipped! Not my boys'! Don't you spout such nonsense and accept that some of you are not fit for these games…" he eyed Lloyd, knowing he really did try to help her, he would let it slide for now...

The girl with the glasses looked and saw Lloyd really did feel bad. "Just… she better be okay… all I'm saying…" she hugged herself and ran back to the other girls, not looking at his face again. "Come on, let's get her to the nurse's office… it's a good thing she's not all human I guess…" she told Sophie and Lanie.

Lloyd turned around and saw the other four looking at him. "I… it happened really fast…" he started shaking a bit.

"You don't have to explain it to us… this was bound to happen… people get hurt in these games all the time…" Jake pointed to his foot, "Just a few months ago, my foot got caught in a bear trap dude… and… from the height she fell, it's not exactly fatal… I'm sure she'll be okay… like what Sally said; Ruby's parents are supernatural… I mean; a half demon and a time ninja? Damn… she'll be fine in no time I bet…"

The vice principal awkwardly looked at the boys, "Well… due to Ruby's injury, we will most likely have to push back the date of the last challenge between you and the girls… at least until we find out what will happen with her…" she sighed, "Good work today I guess… Mr. Darkly seems happy with you five again…" she folded her arms and walked right past them without another word.

When she left and the others weren't watching him, Lloyd ran past them all and didn't stop until he was buried underneath a pile of blankets, quietly sobbing.

* * *

><p>Morrow thought a lot about what Garmadon had told him. He didn't think Wu would be so mean as to do anything to trick him. He did seem rather happy when Wu decided to test him at long last. "Okay Morrow… it's time… now… I make no plans to go up north or to climb up to the ruins… but here… the Fire Temple is close by compared to the others…"<p>

He helped the boy out of the car and looked around; making sure his brother would not be lurking around anywhere, spying on where he would be keeping the weapons. "Come on…" he held his hand, taking him inside.

The small master of air stared with wide and amazed eyes when he saw the inside of the temple, and more importantly, the golden sword of fire sticking out of a rock. "Okay… so… the green ninja is supposed to receive a sign of sort when in contact with any of the golden weapons," he explained, "So, go on… if it will glow then you are the green ninja," he nudged his son with a confident smile.

Morrow nodded a bit and got closer, looking at the lava pools around them, causing the chamber to be broiling hot. He frowned when nothing happened so Wu gave a wobbly smile now, nodding, letting him know he could touch it if he wanted… still nothing happened.

The boy stepped back, wondering what went wrong. He stared at Wu, not knowing how to feel about this strange thing, "Morrow… I…" he swallowed, about ready to say something else, but his son and student cut him off.

"Can I try another weapon!? I… do you need all four at the same time!?"

"No, any of them should do… it shouldn't matter…" Wu scratched his cheek, feeling scared suddenly. "Come…" he reached a hand out to him, "We… we can try the scythe… okay?"

The six year old in the green gi looked down and sighed, nodding, but he had a feeling that the same thing would happen to him. Wu didn't look so sure and confident as he did upon arrival now and he seemed reluctant to take him to the scythe too…

_"He's lying to me… he must be… he knows that I am not his green ninja… but I must be… I have to be…"_

**Heeey everybodyyyyy... I hurt my baby Ruby owo and now Lloyd emotionally... and I shall torture Morrow next hahahahaha... ah... don't you just love hurting children in your fan fics? Emotionally especially? owo Get ready for more angst by the buckets... just saying... **

**Also, yea, I had to change how Morrow finds out he's not the green ninja, cut me some slack, at least I'm being creative over here with shoehorning this last minute stuff into the story that was not meant to be this long... but I'm making it work... and yea, you will receive your answers as to why and how I can make Morrow 5 or so years younger than Lloyd... soon children... all will be explained...**

**I'm so happy I decided to make the St. Maria's girls a bigger part of this because they are fun and I get to introduce Sally and Hatsu and Sigan's daughter Ruby. Have no fear guys, she will in fact live... also, this is going to be the last actual Darkly's school centric chapter I believe, the next will have way more of Wu and Garmadon and v soon, some more familiar characters I'm sure you'll all like.**

**In other news... I'm setting up a yt playlist for this story! I even organized it to help follow the flow fo the story... I had to put in so many notes about which song covered what chapters and I have some spare songs at the end there that I'll organize when I get more of this done... I'm not going to take it off private yet though... but yes, it's a compilation of most of the songs that helped inspire this story. It features a bunch of artists so don't worry, it's not gonna be all Green Day or Taylor Swift songs... It has some from them, Falloit Boy, Panic! At the Disco, Imagine Dragons, Skillet, My Chemical Romance, and other odd sand ends stuff I listen to...**

**Another heads up, since I lost a lot of the old drafts in the crash last fall, I lost the second the epilogue I had so... I will be cancelling the double epilogue idea... sorry guys, I do not feel like rewriting the bulk of that again and I don't even know if I remember it all... so yea, there's the warning...**

**Thanks for reading guys! I'll see you around! Sorry I've been uploading this stuff so damn late... like... jeez... I should be getting some sleep by now... later...**

**~Mar**


	127. Turning Point

Ruby had a minor fractured disc in her back and her wings had several breaks in them, being she did land on them; turns out it provided just enough cushion to save her from completely breaking her back, though she fractured her left forearm as well. Lloyd felt a small bit of relief, but knew that things would never be the same between him and the girls he liked being friends with.

It was hard, trying to see her walk upright again, arm in a sling when she would be allowed to walk around to try and get some exercise. She didn't look completely depressed about it, in fact, he avoided her all the time now; ever since Blair passed by and told him Ruby would appreciate it if he visited her. Ironically, the day of the final challenge was officially given out… and it was the day of Lloyd's eleventh birthday…

He had mixed feelings. He didn't want to spend his birthday competing… what if they did lose?! He would be expelled on his birthday; with possibly nowhere else to go... he would hope his father would finally let him stay permanently with him… but that might be a bit of a stretch since he was so against the idea… and his uncle seemed busy with that other boy he saw him with that time… he was being replaced by him probably, he wasn't surprised… then there was his mother… the missing Misako he gave up on ever seeing again.

After six years, surely she was really never coming back for him…

The green eyed boy shook his head, trying to calm himself down. _"We'll do fine… Darkly… Darkly said that with Ruby injured, even in the given frame of time she won't be able to compete at full capacity like she would… we could win this easy peasy…"_

He looked through the crack in the door to the nurse's office, seeing Ruby sitting up with the other four with her, he just didn't have the heart, it was his fault she was like this and everyone knew it… he quickly left before they could notice him there... besides, his so called friends would be looking for him, ready to discuss their plan and ideas for their last and final challenge…

* * *

><p>Morrow was… well; crushed… There was no other way you could describe the strange and sickening feelings he was feeling inside when he found out that what Wu told him was all wrong. He was only six and all his hopes and dreams Wu spent three and a half years building up was… all gone…<p>

"Listen… this doesn't mean that I think any less of you-" Wu reached a hand out, trying to make him feel better, it wasn't lie.

"I just need to train more! Then I'll be recognized I bet! If you would just show me all the hard stuff! Like… maybe start teaching me Spinjitsu now!" Morrow jumped to his feet, cutting his sensei off. "Teach it and we'll see! I'll be the green ninja then!"

Wu shook his head, ignoring the attempts for higher training at his age, "Morrow… I still care about you, green ninja or not, I you will make a fine master of air like your mother… I can help for sure with that aspect… I just want you to grown up safe and happy… training notwithstanding! Destiny has spoken!"

"It's not fair though!" he shouted at Wu angrily. "You said it was me! I was supposed to be the one to save everyone and be the great hero when I'm big! You put your faith in me and what am I? I'm just… ordinary… you promised me I was special! I promised I would make you proud!"

"And you are special! Especially to me Morrow! Just as you are right now… I'm proud of you just for being so strong at this young age and… don't let this cloud your vision of me… I still love you…" Wu pleaded with him. "No amount of training will make you be the green ninja… it's done, you need to let this go! I care about you and you are worrying me with this obsession you've had since I told you about this!"

"You weren't the one that was lied to for how many years?! I trusted you! You were the first person besides my mom that I trusted! I don't even know why I did… but I just… I just did…"

Okay, that was a stab in the heart for sure.

"And how was I to know? I thought you were the perfect candidate… if you wish to blame someone Morrow… do not blame yourself for not being the green ninja! Destiny has chosen someone different… I wish I had control over it… but I do not… This does not make you weak though! You already are so strong for a boy your age… you're far from ordinary…" he attempted to touch him.

"Leave me alone!" he snapped at the older man. _"Your brother was so right about you! You lied to me!"_ he thought to himself.

It really was like being stabbed in the heart yet another time with that. He felt this so many other times in his life though… His mother's early death… his father lying and keeping secrets he took to his grave… brother attacking him… then Misako pushing him away… Sayu leaving him… now his own son hated him…?

"Morrow…" he swallowed hard, staring at the boy. This was Garmadon all over again… wasn't it? "My brother… is doing the same thing that you are doing right now… he might as well be dead now because he demanded for power that was not his…" he wanted to hug him and tell him the full truth… he considered it more than ever now. "Morrow… listen to me… I need to let you know tha-"

"No! I'm done listening! You're obviously a bad teacher!" the boy shouted, tears in his gray eyes, he ran to his room, locking the door, only to come out less than an hour later.

Wu hoped the tantrum had settled and they could discuss this properly like normal… but he saw Morrow was carrying small backpack with him. He stared at the air ninja with sad, wide eyes as he shook his head in disbelief. "You… what are you doing with that!?" he tried to grab him but knew to stop when a gust of wind blew past him, he froze in his tracks, remembering that Sayu did that when she was enraged.

Morrow looked down at his feet, bitterly, "I'll prove to you that I am strong… I'm gonna find the realm crystal… I remember hearing stories… legends and myths and everything… my mom and my aunts told me when I was little… and I went through writings in the library about it…" Wu noticed several papers stuffed in his backpack, "I know it was hidden somewhere by your dad… and maybe you'll see I really am the green ninja after I get it! Everyone will!" he wiped his eyes and ran out the doors.

"MORROW!" Wu took a second to process this and started after his son. "MORROW WAIT! I NEED TO TELL YOU SOMETHING!" he huffed, but the boy was just too fast for him. Staring at the gates, he shook his head, hoping he was still in hearing range, "Morrow… I'm your dad… I was here the whole time… your mother ran away and I never knew… I… I'm…" he covered his face giving up because he knew he was gone. The quest his son went on was a very dangerous one, and he might even die in the process… "I'm sorry I never told you…"

Wu just sat there on his knees. He was all alone. He didn't know he could hurt anymore than when Sayu had left him, oblivious to the fact that she was pregnant and both were scared of feelings… but here he was, his son left home and he just let him. "I failed… Yui… I… I just let him walk out… I could have done something… if I just told him… before it was too late… then he might have known I loved him no matter what… I failed you… I couldn't keep him safe like I thought… I'm the failure…"

_"It's okay… you did your best…"_

It felt like an eternity before Wu slowly rose to his feet, wiping his eyes one last time and turned to step indoors.

He remembered when his mom died, his father had shaved his head; he was told that when you are mourning for someone you lost who was very dear to you, you would do that… he thought he looked odd at first being he was about six or so when it happened, but he shook his head, understanding; he would no longer be as he was…

Everyone had a turning point when they broke down for the last time. This was it.

Wu grabbed his old bamboo hat, the one his dad had given him years ago, putting it on. He really did look like his dad, like what everyone told him.

"Now…" he let out a tired breath. "I guess it's time to act on my plans… I will not make the same mistake twice…" he grabbed his staff and satchel and started walking down the steps of the mountain. "No one will find out about the green ninja prophecy until I am sure… I refuse to get attached to students like with Morrow… it was a mistake to train my own son… especially without telling him…"

"It's time…" he let out a breath, looking up, "I know you're watching me brother… I know that you must have done something to make my Morrow react in such a manner because he was always a sweet and understanding boy… it was get at me all the more… I know you must be close to finding that old map I hid… and even you know… that I am coming for you… and will make sure you stay down there… I look forward to meet you face to face again… should it come to that…"

Garmadon smirked a bit, _"Well… now I know for sure where your little hiding place is brother… and I can't believe it took me this long to realize it… you would hide it in a place that was special… but not too obviously special to you… because I should know you like the back of my hand now… and I know now there is only one place it could be…"_

_"Ignacia Valley…"_

* * *

><p>Misako bolted upright in bed, a hand to her chest, shaking her head and turning the lights, something not right in the world now. No normal person would feel it, but if you were an elemental master, then it might be quite obvious if you were in tune enough to know there was a change in the winds. She stared at her window; she could just make out the road that would travel to Kasai's old home…<p>

"Something big is happening… and I know you're planning it baby… what are you doing down there all by yourself…?"

She then stared at her reflection, coming back to right there and now; gray hair was littering her once light brown head, she gave up on the idea of dying it like what Sonia was offering to help her with, but she just didn't care anymore about how old she looked with it; she was fifty years old now, no shame in that at all.

"Be safe everyone… may I find you alive and well soon…" she wiped her eyes and turned to try to get some sleep this time. "Because… I will find you all again… and maybe then I will be of some actual use to you…" she closed her eyes, but didn't fall asleep that night.

* * *

><p>Lloyd stared down the long track that he and the others were up against that led into a dark cave. They traveled to get to this challenge. No one knew what was to be expected, it was all complete mystery, they didn't even have a clue to help. He looked down the line at the girls who kept their eyes straight ahead, their friendship seemed to be all over now… now this was all about winning… by any means possible…<p>

He swallowed, closing his eyes and waiting for the whistle. The only goal they knew they had was to collect a black amber crystal and make it out. You would just need at least one crystal, but your whole team had to make it out with you… and Lloyd had never felt so scared of the dark in his entire life. Especially when they said that you couldn't escape the tunnel entrance after sundown and you would have to wait until morning again… it was about three o'clock; that didn't leave them with much time…

"Remember… don't help them…" Aiden swallowed, talking to just Lloyd. "I know it will be hard… I have been where you are Lloyd… do not fight his system… my father will not let you make it out alive if you don't follow what he says…"

The blonde looked up at him curiously.

"Listen; your mind can't be molded to the methods here… even when you were a tiny little kid when you first showed up here… most kids can be easily molded at that age and up… I've seen my father turn even ten year old goody two shoes angels in monsters by the time they get to be your age… but not you at the age of five. I wonder what makes you so different… you care about stuff everyone else in this school would blow off completely… most of us wouldn't even care if Ruby fell, but you look sick every time you look at her… and she is doing much better too…"

Lloyd looked at his beat up sneakers, he had no idea what was so different about him and his behavior, he felt normal, just like everyone else, he played tricks, he did well enough in class for someone who didn't always pay attention… he always wanted to be like his father… he didn't know what could be missing… maybe he didn't want to find out…

"Hey Lloyd…?" he looked back up at Aiden who smiled more genuinely, "Happy Birthday kiddo… let's make this your best birthday yet and win this… and hope win fair and square without pulling any kind of tricks," he offered a fist bump and Lloyd happily accepted it.

Lloyd smiled back more, feeling a bit better and then felt Brad clap his back and they all turned back to the game. "Yea… happy birthday Lloyd… we won't let you get expelled on your birthday…"

"Hey… greenie…" Lloyd flinched when he saw it was Ruby. "Good luck to you too…"

Sally punched his shoulder, "Yea, may the best team win you nerd…"

"Which will be us, so be careful what you wish for there Sal," Jake leaned forward to see them better, holding a playful smirk.

"In your dreams you bums," Sophie snickered with Lanie. "We've seen you run in that first relay obstacle course… it was pretty damn funny to see you huffing and puffing…" she tied her brown curls back into a thick ponytail.

"Save it for the games girls," Blair sternly said, but was smiling all the same. She glanced over; it looked like it was almost time to start.

"If we win… think we can still hangout sometime?" Brad bit his lip, glancing at Sally. "Or would that be too weird or something?"

The other brunette girl rolled her eyes but nodded, "Yea, sure… I don't think it's weird at all…"

Lloyd noticed Gene was the only one who wasn't somewhat smiling and being friendly like everyone else, he then glanced at Lloyd. The blonde never knew he could give him the chills like that before. He looked disgusted, but more so at him.

"You're all weak… but you're the weakest Lloyd…" he grumbled quietly.

The whistle blew, and they were off running as fast as they all could run; head first into something bigger than they could have hoped for.

**Yes, I know I'm early... no, I don't care because I'm justs o close to finishing this one ;w; the next chapter is almost done so I'll be starting 128 soon :D And don't worry, though Morrow will be out of the story for a chapter or two, I will tell you all what happens with him and all that :3**

**I am also almost done with the YT playlist for this! :D Yaay! The In Another World one I just need to remember a couple of other songs I wanted to add... that one is in no real order like the one for this...**

**Basically though, all the Darkly School chapters can be summed up with I'm not Okay (I Promise) by MCR because it kind of just reminded me a little bit of the music video... Lloyd gets kicked around, fighting, just... it's great 10/10 my best song placement ever... also like I said, I put the chapters each song covers, just for this one, not for any other playlist.**

**If there is another story/fic series you want a playlist for of songs that helped inspire me to make it, I'll probably do it. I know my bud Gerard suggested I do one for Getting Back Together, but I might do it for the whole package, like Simple Things+Getting Back Together and I guess plus the prequel I wanted to write for it... but yea... I would appreciate it if you did suggest another story because it's kind of fun to do xD**

**Thanks a bunch for reading guys, you all rock and when I'm done with the playlists I'll let you guys know in whatever story is updating at the time and I'll try to put the links in my profile bio :D**

**~Mar**


	128. Special

**KAY EVERYONE! Before the chapter Doubt, there was supposed to be a whole other chapter that I somehow skipped! I'm sorry I didn't catch it until now! But if you go back, right after 'Too Soft' is a chapter called 'Left Behind', there was a whole set up to what happened with Morrow! I'm sorry again guys for this mix up but look, you get two chapters in the same day haha... well... I'm going to go finish having my anxiety attack now...**

* * *

><p>Lungs burning, mind racing as Lloyd charged into darkness, not knowing where it would lead him exactly, he just knew he had to go in and do this. He slowed down after a few minutes to find that something seemed oddly familiar about this place, he wasn't sure what, but he knew this place for certain.<p>

He started walking around, noticing that the other four must had run off in another direction when he wasn't looking or paying attention, it was pretty dark after all. "Ugh… this is like the maze challenge all over again…" he grumbled, wiping his eyes and finding it rather easy to adjust to the dark now, he spent enough days in the Underworld after all… Lloyd stopped his train of thought suddenly thinking about that.

_The Underworld…_

Lloyd blinked, thinking that this very well could be part of the Underworld. Garmadon did say there were several ways to get into the Underworld besides the Fire Temple… So if he was in the Underworld, then his dad could be around here somewhere too! What a perfect day after all! His dad could help him find the crystal in no time and they can win this!

He started on ahead again, "Daaad? Daaaaaaaaaaad! It's me! Hey! You around here somewhere?! I need some help!" he started getting louder when no response came back. The boy then stopped in his tracks for a beat, feeling like something was watching him.

Lloyd looked over his shoulder, but found nothing there. When he went to look back, a strange, gray blob like creature with purple eyes was in front of him, face to face. Lloyd screamed and darted past, running into something that pushed him behind forcefully.

"What did I tell you about coming down here on your own!?" The voice angrily snapped at the boy. Lloyd opened his eyes and looked up to see his father was there, not some monster like what he was expecting. "You are in so much trouble for being here!" he growled, grabbing his sword tighter.

"W-what… is that thing!?" he saw it was getting closer.

"Smoke monsters… changeling like creatures… a long time ago I fought these things with your mother and my friends… these pesky things constantly try to escape the Underworld to wreak havoc because they feel like it… they can trick you though and turn into people that you trust, so that's how they fool people…" the father raised his sword higher, "Come on! Go back where you belong! I've had enough of you messing around here! You are way too far out of your boundaries!"

The smoke creature whined a bit but Garmadon glared, telling it off again like it was a baby almost, but the monster obeyed what the dark lord ordered. Garmadon let out a breath, putting his sword away and picked his son up, spanking him hard on the butt a couple of times. "WHAT. DID. I. TELL. YOU?!"

"I'M SORRY! BUT THIS WAS APART OF THE LAST ROUND FOR MY SCHOOL! I HAVE TO BE HERE DAD! I'M SORRY!" Lloyd cried loudly, still stinging from the spanking from his father.

Garmadon blinked, stopping abruptly, "Your school… sent you down here!? Are you kidding me!? Does that mean I have more brats to worry about getting lost down here and to make sure they don't get eaten by whatever the hell's here?!" Lloyd nervously smiled and nodded a couple of times. "What do you need from down here then?" he sighed tiredly, the faster he could help, the fast they could get out of here.

"Black amber or something… I don't know what it looks like because I may or may not had fallen asleep in class…" he quietly trailed off, "but I got separated from my friends and one girl on the team is injured and I don't know if she can make it out on time before the portal shuts until sunrise…"

"Oh boy…" the father let out a weary breath, "I'm getting to old for this…" he set his son down and started walking, "Okay, buddy, we'll find the others together, let's go…" he gestured, "And son…" he held Lloyd's hand tightly, "Happy Birthday…"

The blonde smiled more, so his dad did remember after all! He knew he didn't forget after all!

* * *

><p>The first on the list was the first weapon that he had hid; earth. The master of earth that was on the old team besides Misako; Rose, had a son, Cole, who was sheltered since her death, by his father. He would not be allowed to learn how to fight or learn about the powers he might have inherited. But be forced to be like his dad rather his warrior mother.<p>

It may had taken a bit to find him, but Wu knew though, that Cole was not off at a boarding school for music and theatre, he dropped out but kept up the façade to his dad that he was still attending there. Amongst many travelers, Cole was rather well known. The seventeen year old was an expert free climber and one of the strongest people around, that sounded like a kid who inherited his mother's earth powers for sure.

He didn't really have a place to call home; he was a wanderer who would just travel around with others and was kind of a 'free spirit' type who would try to tackle incredible feats to test himself physically.

Wu stood at the foot of the Mountain of a Million Steps, it was even taller than the mountain that he lived on, and today, word was out that Cole would be climbing it today, plenty of people were there to take pictures and such since he was climbing this mountain for the first time… mostly, the people were comprised of young, teenage girls with camera phones… as Cole was doing this shirtless… and kind of was a bit of a show off…

The aging man was quick to reach the top and wait for the boy to finish his climb, setting his teapot down over a fire to get it going. He scratched his growing beard, he wondered why he decided to look like this some days… then he remembered that he did want to be like his father, though he wouldn't admit to it. He also didn't really care at this point what he looked like, he knew how old he was, but he still looked about ten years older due to the accident with Sigan years back with Kasai and Namiko.

He heard Cole get closer and smiled a bit at the reaction he got from the teenager, "What the heck!?" he shouted when he saw the older man there with his teacup, a hand almost slipping because he was so surprised by this. Wu scooted over and Cole awkwardly climbed the rest of the way up, "Uuuh… can I help you? Why are you up here anyways!?"

"I bet you don't even remember me… it's been a while and I do look pretty different…" he started. "I'm looking for a ninja…" he smiled a bit. Cole laughed at that remark. "Oh you think I'm joking… of course… your mother was a ninja… not as dedicated to the lifestyle as my friends and I… but you are just like her… and I think you know it too."

Cole rolled his eyes, "So what? I mean… I…" he trailed off, looking down.

"If you are in and wish to stop travelling around like you've been doing for the past four years… training starts tomorrow and you get to live at my monastery with me, have a place to actually call a home… I know you like to fight instead of dance, like I said… I knew Rose well enough," Wu smirked just a little bit.

The black haired boy glanced back up at him and smirked a bit more back at him, it did sound like a sweet deal, martial arts didn't sound so bad and he could finally get to have a consistent place to sleep, "Well… okay then old man… it's a deal for sure… I'll train with you! Better than doing this all day I guess… I mean, not much left for me to do…" he mumbled.

Wu nodded, standing up, "Perfect… now I just need to pick up two more boys and convince them as well because I need more than one student to make this work…" he lifted the tea pot up and started walking down. "I hope they are as easy to persuade as you are… then again… I know their parents too so it shouldn't be any harder beyond finding them…"

Cole followed, not exactly knowing what he got himself into suddenly at the mention of Wu's plans. "I'm sorry… what? Two more boys? So… I'm not going to be alone with you? I'm going to have roommates?"

"That's right… I need four students total… but I am starting with three for now because I have my reasons… the next we shall meet is a boy who belongs to a couple who also fought with your mother and me in war… only met him a handful of times as a young boy, so I'm hoping he'll be accepting," he explained on the way down. "There are four boys that are destined to do great things Cole… you were granted a rather amazing gift…"

"So… you think I'm one of them?" the younger raised an eyebrow.

"I know you are… I have been keeping an eye on you though your father did not want you to train with me… I always believed you were quite a special kid," he admitted. "Not come on! I don't have all day and Ninjago City is quite the walk from here!"

Cole groaned and hung his head, he was tired after scaling a mountain!

* * *

><p>Garmadon plucked something out of a glowing crack in the wall, showing it to his son, "This is what you're going to need to win… it's very hard to come by… and I'm certain no one else will have found this yet…" he placed it in his boy's hand and nodded back, "Now let's go see where they all are and get you out within the next half an hour…"<p>

Lloyd hopped along, smiling more, it would seem like this challenge would be in the bag! They were going to win and he would remain in school with his friends! Up ahead, he noticed something had moved. "Brad? Gene?" he called. "Jake or Aiden!?" he slowly got back behind his father when no one responded at first.

"Lloyd!? That you!?" Sally came out of the shadow, lowering the stick she was using for protection. Lloyd ran forward as well to greet her. She jumped, giving a small shriek when Garmadon came out of the shadows behind Lloyd. "What the hell is that?!"

"What?" the blonde looked behind, "Oh… this is my dad…" he looked up at his father, "Dad; this is Sally, she's on St. Maria's team! Brad has a crush on her," he smirked Sally flinched, blushing and looking rather angry he mentioned that, "And I think she has one on him too!" he snickered.

"Lloyd! Now is not the time for this!" she hissed at him. "Hey… you found black amber?! Where did you get it!?"

He swallowed, he shouldn't help her because that would mean that they would be in a race to get out of there first, and judging by the rock climbing event especially, the girls were probably strong runners too, but his father stepped in and showed her where it was kept.

"Lloyd, what did I say about being on top?" he looked sternly at the boy who seemed hesitant to tell her.

"It's lonely…" he hung his head.

"Right now, all you two need to do is make sure that your teams all make it out before this place closes up for the night… it was a good thing I came all the way over here to do a perimeter check… you wouldn't believe what I catch trying to come in here sometimes…" the dark lord took his helmet off to run a hand through his hair.

Sally smiled and bit and looked at Lloyd, "Kay, you're dad's pretty cool Lloyd…" she chuckled.

* * *

><p>Cole was lagging behind just a bit; they<em> had<em> been walking for three hours or so now… though Wu looked rather fine as he didn't seem to slow down much. The black haired boy looked a bit relieved when he saw they were coming up on a city.

"Now, Jay… let's see… last I heard from his parents, he came into town so he can get on a tall enough place to test something out…" Wu frowned, "I wonder what it could be he's working on… if he's anything like his parents, he's crazy and built something equally as…"

Cole tugged on Wu's sleeve a couple of times to try and get his attention, "Hey… uh… that look crazy enough to you?" There was an auburn haired teenager on a roof to an apartment building with something strapped to his back by the look of things. "Like… that kind of crazy?"

"Yep… that's him…" Wu stated and marched off. "Wait around here while I go talk to him… this shouldn't be too long now…" he told Cole and started up the stairs.

Jay straightened up, strapping his goggles on and opening and closing his fake wings to test out the joints in the mechanism, "Okay… we look ready to go then!" he stretched his neck left then right and bounced his knees a bit before charging forward, right off the building.

Cole just thought he was stupid for doing that, but was moderately surprised when he swooped upward because that weird contraption worked… until he flew through a billboard I mean. "Huh… what a whack job…"

"Ugh…" Jay coughed, head pounding from his fall. "Ah… damn it!" he looked at his smashed up wings. "I worked three weeks on those!" he grumbled, getting on his knees and sliding the straps off his shoulders, tossing the goggles off. "Back to the drawing board I guess..." he sighed, pulling out a note pad, "Kay so I think I didn't make it wide enough for my height… I should also grease the joints next time because it seemed to slow opening up when I took off…" he started scribbling down notes.

"Or you can… take up a different hobby…" Jay jumped and looked to see that Wu was sitting there, though he swore he wasn't there before. "I'm an old friend of your parents'… we only met a handful of times and you were still a baby…" Wu pleasantly told him. "But I can see the resemblance for sure…" he smiled.

Jay raised an eyebrow, intrigued suddenly, "Okaay… well… there a uh… reason you're up here…? Watching me like that? Kind of creepy old dude, whether you knew me or not…"

"Yes, I have a reason for being up here… I'm a sensei… and I wanted to personally invite you to be one of my new students and train you to be a ninja… a master of Spinjitsu… I wish to train a new generation… and I want you to be one of those four," he explained.

The freckled boy scratched the back of his head, looking back at the smashed glider he made, then back to Wu, "Huh… well…" he smiled a bit more, "Sounds awesome to me!"

_"Oh thank father that he's the adventurous type…"_ Wu thought.

"But… ya know, why me?" he asked next.

Wu stood up, "Because I believe you're special… and I need special…"

Jay stared at Wu, yea sure his parents said he was special, but this guy barely knew him at all and thought he was special. He smiled wider, "Well then, how can I say no to that reason…" he scratched his cheek. "Sure… yea, I guess I'll go with you".

"Excellent!" Wu started down and Jay tried to keep up, "Okay Cole, one last stop… we're going up north…" he stopped and looked at Jay, "Jay, Cole, Cole Jay…" he gestured but kept moving forward.

The two looked at one another, but stopped, "NORTH?!"

"Yes, up north, a nice little place called Yosho Island… a man there should be expecting me…" he didn't even look back to answer them, "Don't worry you won't be walking the whole way, I have transport waiting… remember it's a lake…"

"Why do I suddenly feel like I'm going to regret this just a little?" Jay raised an eyebrow.

**Remember what I said about some new characters that I think you'll like? That's right kiddos you get to see Cole, Jay, and Zane! Kai... I can't say for sure... I might do something with them... not sure... but I can promise Morrow will be back and... you'll get the results of who will win the last challenge... lot's of stuff going on... as we will also get to see Tanaka again! Been a while since you saw him last... huh?**

**So yea, there will also be a bit of Wu training our trio... speaking of that, I thought of doing a mini series like the Teenage Adventures of Garmadon and Friends, only with Jay, Cole, and Zane being trained by Wu... I think it'd be fun... any takers for that idea? Because this one is basically almost done so I'll for sure hae time to do another mini series like that.**

**Thank you so much for reading guys! As always, I appreciate it a lot and I'll see you all later!**

**~Mar**


	129. Walk of Shame

Lloyd ran forward when he saw the faint shadows of his friends in the dark tunnels, barely lit by the other purple crystals that grew from the walls, "Guys! Look! I found that rock we needed! We can get out of here now and win this!"

The other turned around at the sound of their teammate's voice and Gene saw Sally trotting up behind him, "Ugh, what's she doing here?! Did you actually help her get one too?!" he snapped back to Lloyd, "Remember what we said!? We're not helping each other anymore! Do you want to lose!?"

"B-but…" Lloyd swallowed, "I didn't help her… my dad did… it wasn't up to me…" he made the excuse.

"Father?" they all asked, confused.

From behind the blonde boy, the tall figure of his father loomed over the much shorter boys, red eyes narrowed; he didn't say anything, just stood, looking at the four, which made them creeped out even more by his presence. They all looked up at his glowing eyes, "Th-that's your dad?!" Aiden blurted out in shock.

Lloyd didn't know why they all seemed scared of him, not even Sally was freaked out a bit. "Uh… yea… what? What's so wrong?"

"So you must be the snot nose kid named Gene Lloyd has told me so much about… huh?" Garmadon said. His son shivered a bit because his father sounded far more menacing than when he would speak to him. Looking back to Gene, the red head probably had wet himself a bit. "I recommend you leave my son alone… and you stop bullying him so damn much for no good reason… got it?"

Gene swallowed, "Y-yes sir…"

"Oh and that's my friend Brad, you don't have to intimidate him or anything, it's just Gene who's a jerk," Lloyd pointed to the other small boy who meekly waved while Gene looked offended by the casual comment.

"Well… then nice to meet you Brad…" he commented on the other boy next to Gene. "I thank you for being a good friend…"

"…" Brad didn't know what to say at this point.

Garmadon sighed, "Okay, I need you all out of here, I can't have you kids running around when it's night because things get… scary around here for kids…" he folded his arms, "Even though I want Lloyd's team to win… I need to ensure the girls get out of here as well… once I get Sally back to her friends, then you're on your own the rest of the way… I can lead you to exit, but you can just race back… now let's go, I would say you have about… a half an hour so move it! Everyone!" he snapped at the other kids.

Jake scoffed and looked at Gene, "What was that about his dad? I thought you said he couldn't possibly be scary…" he then noticed Gene was walking a bit stiffly, "Holy crap… you did wet your pants for real!?"

"Not one word from you!" he boy with the glasses hissed.

_"I literally cannot believe I'm playing babysitter for a group of school children…_" Garmadon held his forehead, _"I have plans to make… I hope this won't be too long now…"_ he sighed to himself.

"Sally?! Guys! I… oh…" Sophie came out first. "You guys…" she folded her arms, "Yea… Sally's with… them… hey who's the creepy dude behind you?"

"Lloyd's dad…" Gene swallowed.

"Cool," the girls smiled.

Ruby and Lloyd glanced at one another, but the boy quickly looked away. "Let's just find the way out of here…" Garmadon noticed the awkward exchange of glances and pulled him aside.

"You're going to be very honest with me right now son…" he put a hand on his shoulder, "she's wearing a brace… what happened since the last challenge you all did? Because I see you look guilty…"

Lloyd wiped his eyes, shrugging his shoulders a bit, "I couldn't catch her hand in time… and she hurt her back really badly… and I know Sally and the girls blame me… I hesitated and I feel really bad about it… Darkly said I should be proud we won and made it to the final but…"

Garmadon hugged him tightly, "It's okay son…" he looked back to Ruby who glanced over, "It doesn't seem like she's mad at you for it… I think she's worried about you…" he quietly told him. "I think she just wants to talk with you…"

"You think so?" Lloyd looked unsure.

"Yea… but come on, resolve this when you get out," the dark lord stood back up. "Alright let's go, you've all lingered enough I think… exit's that way…" he started pushing them all along, not want to hang around the children any longer than he had to. He still needed to organize the raid for finding the map to the weapons, he still wasn't sure of the exact location so he needed to start on this as soon as possible.

* * *

><p>When they got to the final stretch, the sun was almost completely set, they would have to run. Lloyd looked at Ruby, wincing at the thought of running that far. The ten started off, this was it, the final race, the last challenge, the decider of who would win and who would lose. They were almost there when Ruby bent over; having to stop, after all, she did spend quite a while in a bed with barely any exercise, that with her sore back still.<p>

Sally looked at her watch, "Ten seconds guys! Ruby! Let's go, you're almost there!" she hoped the other girl was close behind.

Lloyd was lingering behind, biting his lip as he watched the black haired girl over his shoulder. _"If she gets stuck in here… no way could she survive until morning on her own…"_ he hesitated for half a second, remember that he did the same when he had let her fall. If he let this go another half a second, it could be too late again… _"Not this time…"_ he growled to himself.

The green eyed boy grabbed her wrist like what he should had done, pulling her, pretty much dragging her along since she couldn't keep up. He had no idea where all this strength was coming from; it was almost inhuman probably since Ruby was a little bit bigger compared to him.

"If he doesn't let go of her, he's not gonna make it! Neither are!" Brad shook his head, one hand in his hair.

"Just let go of her and charge! It's not like she's gonna win anyways with or without your help!" Gene shouted at the other, still inside.

"Four seconds…" Blair swallowed.

Lloyd was about two yards from the end. He grabbed Ruby's hand tighter as he felt this incredible strength to send her flying forward the rest of the way, wanting to prove Gene wrong for some reason. Not another second later did the blonde run right into the newly made wall and blacked out.

* * *

><p>Cole and Jay were shivering, even with the jackets that Wu had given them on. They were shocked to find that their new sensei did not seem cold in the slightest and he wasn't wearing a jacket like them. "S-so… where is this guy anyways?" Jay chattered; looking up as it was starting to get dark out.<p>

"Wu?"

"Right here in the flesh…" the sensei pleasantly smiled when he saw the black haired man come over to him, picking him up in a hug, "I'm so happy to finally get the chance to see you again! When you sent me the letter, I was so excited… it has been too long… when I hear about… your family… oh… poor Misako… and Garmadon as well…" he let out a breath, "I've been quite tied up with things here myself… especially since my grandparents were prominent elders and leaders here… as I'm sure you remember…"

"Of course…" Wu quietly confirmed, happy to see they did not linger on the subject of his brother and Misako. Tanaka's parents were murdered by Cardinsto when he was still a baby; his grandparents raised him like their own son so he was so close to them both. "Well… I'm sorry to say this isn't much of a social call…" he looked back to Cole and Jay. "I'll have to come back up here for some tea sometime…"

Tanaka nodded with a warm smile, "Yes, I would appreciate that so much… I take you haven't seen much of Crevan?" they started walking together.

"Afraid not… you?"

"Of course I keep in touch with my older brother and have visit only a handful of times," he laughed. "His daughter is quite… I would say young lady, but she is… better than just that now…" he looked back at Jay and Cole, staring at Cole the most, "Was… that not Rosie's son?"

"Yes…" Wu coughed. "He's one of my students now… and no… Lou is not aware of his whereabouts… he thinks he's still in his boarding school…"

Tanaka chuckled, "I see then… the other must be Ed and Edna's boy…?" Wu also nodded to that assumption. "Very well, I can see you assembled some of the finest boys… Zane's… over by the lake… swimming… I guess you could say…"

"Swimming!?" Cole and Jay shouted in unison, shocked by the statement.

"Zane is… my adopted son… he's quite the strange boy, but I am happy to call him a son and we have gotten along very well since meeting…" the gray eyed man smiled, "And if he is ready to decide he wants to train with you, then I am all for this… I can feel it… there is so much power… even from you two…" he addressed the destined earth and lightning ninjas.

Cole leaned over to Jay, "Kay… this old dude's creeping me out just a little bit…" the freckled one quickly nodded in agreement. "And what did he mean by… swimming… oh gosh…" he saw the lake was frozen over… save for one hole cut out in the ice.

"Down there then… going for a new record from what he told me this morning…" he looked over to a man sitting on the rock, watching for any sign of his son. "Ben, how long has it been this time?"

The man named Ben looked at his watch, "Fifteen minutes in another twenty seconds… going for that new record for sure… I think he'll be coming up around then…"

Like the old man said, a teenager with platinum hair climbed back out. He was wearing a wet suit and was treating the weather like it was desert like, not one goosebump on his pale skin. He turned when he saw Wu approach him. "… do you remember me?"

"Vaguely…" he looked the man down; up. "A friend of my father for sure…" he commented. "I take it you wish to involve me in something…"

Wu nodded, "I believe you are very special… from the moment I heard Tanaka adopted you… you're special; just like those two boys over there…" he pointed back. "And I want you to come with me to my monastery where I can train you in the way of the ninja… what do you say to that?"

Zane didn't seem to need time to think about it, he just bowed without much more of an answer. "Well… I would be honored to have caught the interest of you like this…" he stood back up. "I take it we leave now?"

"That's right," Wu smiled back. "As soon as you are ready to leave with us, we will go back down south... and your training will begin…"

* * *

><p>Ruby was groaning, body hurting so badly as she did roll couple of times on the hard and rocky floor. The other eight were just staring at the closed up wall with wide eyes, even the teachers waiting for them to come out.<p>

"We…" Aiden breathed.

"Lost…" Brad squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head, upset.

Gene ran over to the wall, "YOU HEAR THAT LLOYD?! WE LOST BECAUSE OF YOU! YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO BE WEIRD ONE WHO CAN NEVER DO ANYTHING!" Jake had to pull the red head from where he was shouting because it didn't matter, it was over. "YOU'RE USELESS! YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT!"

* * *

><p>When Lloyd woke up, his father was leaning over him, a scared look on his face. "Oh good…" he breathed, "You've been out for a few hours…" he felt his face, "You got a nice bruise on your head…" he shook his own. "When I heard that loud bang noise… I didn't know what happened… good thing I went back to check if you were okay or I would have never of known…" he pulled his son into a tight hug.<p>

Lloyd was silent, staring into space. He knew what he did; he knew what happened to the others because of his actions. Garmadon at first didn't understand why his son looked so sad, why it looked like the world was over. "Oh… you… I guess… you lost then…" he closed his eyes. "I know how important this was to you Lloyd… I… I really understand… and I'm sorry this happened to you…"

His son just plopped back on the bed, rolling onto his side, burying himself under the blanket, not wanting to talk about it.

"You can go back in the morning… just… get some sleep…" he kissed his son's head. "I love you buddy…"

_"He can't know… something horrible is going to happen to me… I can't go back though… I can't possibly…"_ Lloyd sobbed as quietly as he could. _"I'm worthless… I'm just… an idiot who got lucky a couple of times… I'm nothing but some… stupid little…"_ he couldn't even finish his thought.

* * *

><p>The gates of the school were opened; it was just before classes could begin. Lloyd knew; he was being expected by everyone, especially old Mr. Darkly himself.<p>

It was his fault they had lost the medal…

St. Maria's girls were lined up outside the school, their bags in hand as they were leaving in a few minutes. "We're… planning on staying until you're done in there…" Blair told him. "And… it might not mean much but… thanks for getting Ruby out of there in time… I feel so horrible accepting this medal…" she pulled the trinket off. "Aiden told me everything though… we're sorry we ever doubt you… we should had known you really wanted to save Ruby the first time…"

"Good luck in there Lloyd…" Ruby bit her lip, holding out his small backpack to him. "We're still sorry… we would have rather you won…"

He just nodded in acknowledgment at them. It was so hard walking to the other side of the school where the principal's office was. All the students were in the hallway, glaring at the boy they all saw as the charming troublemaker who nobody could quite read just who's side he was on, but they all knew, he was a goody two shoes, and that was the most hated thing there was.

Lloyd almost cried, but he knew he couldn't because that would further provoke them all to laugh and bully him and call him weak.

His team was outside the door, Aiden and Jake looked at him with sympathy and nothing more, Gene looked with pure loathing, Brad… looked betrayed. They didn't say anything, they were just called in.

Darkly was sitting behind his desk, glaring at all of them, especially Lloyd. "I really thought we would have had it… I honestly did boys… you gave me hope for once…" he suddenly slammed his hands down on the table, making them all flinch, yet he still kept the calm tone. "So here's the deal…" he eyed all five. "Only one person is leaving this school… because it's been proven that the other four are more competent then I first thought…"

All eyes on Lloyd.

"I thought I would take your mother's word that you would do good here… for a while I had so much doubt… then you started making me think you could be… and I see now your mother was dead wrong about you… I could tell she was a good soul from the second she stepped through my door here…" Lloyd kept his eyes closed, "And I should have known that he son would be just like her…"

"I'm nothing like my mom!" Lloyd lifted his head, shouting angrily.

"Well you didn't show signs of being the son of a dark lord in that last second where you could have won!" Darkly blurted out in laughter.

"My dad told me it was lonely being a winner though! Not her!"

"Well what kind of a half-assed villain is he then for feeding you that garbage!?" Darkly continued to laugh, "A failure student is the son of a failure bad guy it sounds like… maybe you are just like your father after all my dear Lloyd Garmadon!" He leaned forward more, "So… your father thinks that being a winner is lonely?" Lloyd looked up, eyes watering, "You'll see it's even lonelier being a loser…"

Aiden couldn't take this anymore, "Dad… father…" he swallowed, "Please stop this! He has nowhere to go!"

The principal looked his son dead in the eye, "What the hell did I tell you about calling me that you pathetic runt!?" He looked like he was about ready to smack him if he said one more word to him. "You're lucky you're more promising than he is! You think I wanted you? You didn't for once think I should have just sent you right back to your mother to do with as she pleased? I never wanted you and you're lucky I was kind enough to let you stay here…"

Lloyd clenched his teeth, "If being a villain means being like you then I don't wanna stay here anymore!" he shouted back, crying now. "I don't wanna be here! I never wanted be here from the first day I came!" he shook his head. "Everyone hates me before they even got to know me… and even then they hated me… all except those girls who I barely knew!" he stole a glance at Brad, "Even my own 'best' friends here were mean to me… why would I wanna show loyalty to any of you jerks?!"

Darkly scoffed, turning his attention back to the student under scrutiny. "Mr. Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon… I deem you unteachable! You are unfit and have the lack of motivation to be one of tomorrow's masterminds… good day to you and a have a nice life where ever you decide to go!"

Lloyd tried to hold back his tears now as he slowly backed out of the door, turning to run as fast as he could, past everybody who shunned him, everyone who he knew did not want him there, even right past the girls who wished he would be okay.

For the first time in Lloyd's life, he finally accepted the fact that he was just unwanted.

**Confession time, I wrote the bulk of this withing the... past two hours... haha... yea... tbh, it all just flowed though and I did my best to double check for grammar and stuff... heh... yea... I'm surprised because that stuff doesn't normally happen... like, maybe those 100 prompt stuff in an hour... but not a 3,000+ word chapter from an epic...**

**Also, as you can see, I eluded to Lloyd's future powers again when he flung Ruby through all on his own...also, yes, Gene is scared of Garmadon...  
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**So yea, uh, as you can see, this one's starting to wind down... and guessies what? Morrow's coming back in the next chapter... oh wait... it's gonna be a sad one though haha... I'm horrible, I know... soo... ye, excited I'm so close... I'll save the sappy stuff for the epilogue update in a couple of weeks XD**

**Thanks for reading guys and I promise, I didn't skip a chapter this time XD (yes, I still feel bad about that)**

**~Mar**


	130. Seaching

Morrow didn't really know what he was doing with himself. He said he would travel the land to look for any signs of some hidden artifact that almost no one would know about, just to prove to Wu that he could be the destined green ninja. What the six and half year old never considered… was how hard things were going to be for him if he did run away. He barely had any money for anything and it's not like people would hire a little kid like him so he could get some.

Luckily, some people were kind enough to help him just a bit, but it was few and far between. He got his hand slapped enough times when caught trying to steal from vendors and shops, it was rare he could actually get away with something too.

He didn't know where to even begin; he lingered around the surrounding towns, hoping he could understand what he was reading from the scroll he had stolen from the monastery library. He froze when he saw someone who looked quite familiar to him. "Wu?" he mumbled the question as he hid in the nearest alley. He looked to be coming his way, but he had stopped.

Morrow then realized that his former teacher's attention was directed at three older boys who were following him back to the monastery. His small face scrunched up in jealousy, "So he replaced me so soon!? He just forgot about me?!" he hissed, looking away, wiping his eyes. "I'll show him… I'm worthy… they won't be the green ninja… I'll be!" he started running down the alley way when he bumped into someone a bit taller than him.

* * *

><p>Lloyd almost fell back against the nearest wall, then fell on his butt when he felt the small boy run into him, plowing right by. He didn't stop though and kept running right passed him down the alley, seeming to be in quite a rush. "Jerk…" he mumbled, wiping his eyes. "I wonder who that was…" he only caught a glimpse at the back of the other kid's head.<p>

The blonde had been running for the past two days. His father never seemed to show up or appeared to be looking for him, so he assumed he didn't know about what happened to him at the school a few days ago. It didn't matter though, Garmadon didn't even want his own son with him… or that was what Lloyd had thought. He knew his dad loved him, but he would never be allowed to live in the Underworld like what he wished he could do…

The boy in black started running again, "I'll show that bitter old Darkly…" he grimaced, "I'll be more evil than any of those other kids! More than Gene even…" he wiped his watering green eyes. "I just need to find something scary and… and be like dad… he could scare so many people… and I wanna be just like him! I just need to get an army like him! That'll do it… I'll become the youngest super villain ever!" he nodded to himself and started running off in search of something to start his plan.

* * *

><p>The dark lord was actually mapping out everywhere that his army had searched and raided for the map Wu had hid away, anywhere that was rather remote and not widely known to people. He began to get even more frustrated with himself and his brother as he was getting more and more angry about this. He genuinely did not know his little boy was running around the streets of Ninjago…<p>

He threw everything off the table, the maps, the plans, everything. A couple of the Skulkin in there with him remained silent, not wanting to add any more wood to this fire if they said something… and they were also kind of scared of him.

"It doesn't make any sense!" the red eyed man shouted. "I searched everywhere…" he looked away, back to his men, "Get out of here…" he snapped, pointing towards the door, "I wanna be alone right now!" he growled.

Past the two came a separate guard with a note in hand. "This is for you from one of the sentries by the east entrance sir…" he managed to stay calm in his presence, "I believe it has to do with your son," he continued before Garmadon could get the chance to yell at him.

The dark lord raised an eyebrow and looked back to the note, reading it a few times. "This doesn't make sense… he should be in school… not running around… I…" he looked back up. "If there was a problem, he would have told me…" he pointed angrily, "The sentries couldn't have seen Lloyd!"

The guard shrugged, "All I can say is that there was a rumored report from one of the men you sent to keep an eye on… well he just reported as I was coming down here that apparently… he was expelled…"

Garmadon didn't know how to respond to that, his son was running amuck with nowhere to go now?

"Another said that according to the instruction your wife gave the principal, Lloyd is to be in the care of your brother should he be removed from the special program Darkly placed him in… though it is unlikely since your son does not seem to want to stay with him… he is on his own as of right now unless he did make it to the old monastery…"

Garmadon shook his head more, this couldn't possibly be happening. He almost felt angry this was the situation he was in, but he couldn't be angry with Misako's decision at the same time. "Maybe it is for the best if he went to Wu though…" he held his hands to his face, letting out a long sigh. "Wu would be a better dad than I could ever be…" he closed his eyes, wanting to be alone.

"One last thing… on the topic of your brother…" he looked back to the guard who seemed rather stone faces, not very intimidated by his boss. "He has three new students… just came in this morning down the river, he should be back home at this point in time."

Garmadon knew what this meant… old Wu was finally doing it, gathering four to be the new ninja… the new Masters of Spinjitsu that would replace his old team… training them to defeat evil… aka; him.

"Then I'll have to work faster… since I know that when his students' training will be completed… he'll go back for the map and I will have lost all hope in getting the four weapons… I need to strike while the iron's hot and the students are still all novices…" he folded his arms tightly. "I want another raid on the west fields… we haven't searched there enough!" he looked at all the red x's he drew on the map. "I feel I'm getting closer…"

* * *

><p>Cole, Zane, and Jay all stood in a line, looking around the strange courtyard of the monastery. "Now… this hasn't been used in a while… kind of…" he looked down, shaking his head. "It was designed by myself and friends with my father along while ago…" he triggered the course.<p>

"Uuuh… okay… wow…" Jay stared. "Nice mechanics… good handiwork used here…" he commented, pretty much in awe. "I would love to know how you built this…"

"You'll be using it Jay, not learning how it works… maybe later… but not now," Wu eyed the freckled teenager, reminding him why he was here, "To begin… this will be your main training… though I will be teaching you how to use certain weapons… as a good ninja must be versatile and disciplined with a weapon…" he looked back at the three teenagers. "I… would recommend as your primary weapons-"

"Swords?" Cole blurted out, kind of excited by the idea. "I always wanted to learn how to use a sword!"

Wu shook his head, "Kendo training will come later… you'll need to know but…" he answered, "Cole will train with a scythe, Jay, nunchucks, and Zane will get the shurakins…" he tapped his staff down on the stone floor. "Come on in so I may give you your uniforms and show you where you'll be sleeping," he looked back at the three.

"Heh… Cool…" Jay smirked wide, obviously excited to get started. "Soooo…" he looked at the other two, "I'm Jay… I come from that old junkyard out by Ninjago City! I'm a… decent inventor…" he corrected himself when he remembered how his last experiment went. "Which reminds I gotta work on that design…" he mumbled to himself.

Zane glanced down at the auburn haired one, "I am Zane… I lived up in Yosho as long as I can remember… I never knew my real parents or remember much of my childhood… but the man who adopted me treats me very well the past years I grew up with him… It is a pleasure to meet both of you."

"Huh… same I guess…" Cole slowly nodded, glancing over to see the other two were looking at him to say something. "What? Me now? I like doing stuff people says is stupid pretty much… I thought being a ninja sounded cool and different… end of my story…"

"No family oooor?" Jay raised an eyebrow.

Cole shot the freckled one a look and Zane pushed them apart, "Okay, let us not fight on our first day training together… shall we?" he uneasily smiled. "I do not wish that to be our first memories of each other…"

Wu stopped and nodded, "Yes, thank you Zane…" he gestured to a room at the end of the hall, "this is my biggest room… and you all shall be sharing it…"

They peered inside to see a bunk bed and a single bed with three small chests for their belongings. "We start training tomorrow at the crack of dawn, I expect you to take this seriously now…" he nodded and started walking off. "I'll go make some tea then…"

"Top bunk!" Jay shouted, racing up the ladder, dropping his bag on the floor, though banged his head on the ceiling at the same time. Cole took the single bed and Zane was fine on the bottom bunk, he didn't really care all that much like the other two. "Hey… who the heck's that?" the blue eyed one noticed a picture just outside the hall.

"Huh… these are… kind of old looking… that must be Wu then… right?" Cole raised an eyebrow. "To be honest, I only met him a couple of times I think back when I was little kid… it does look familiar… but…"

Zane nodded. "It seems this house used to be home to quite a family…" he glanced at a few others. "But her…" he frowned at one with a woman with green in black hair.

"Tea is ready, stop standing around and get settled in please," Wu's voice called over, like he knew and could hear them all talking.

"Yes sir! Come on… I'm sure they're just pictures… nothing to investigate…" Cole shrugged and nodded over to their room again, the three opened their own chests to put their stuff away, finding nothing but a black ninja gi, one for each of them at the bottom. "Huh…" he smirked. "Jay's right… pretty cool indeed…"

Wu turned around to see his three students in the black garments, hoods off. "Now you look like proper ninja…" he commented with a hint of a smile. "But…" he stopped them from saying another word, "Do you three have what it takes to actually become one?"

"Hah, nothing in this world I can't do," Cole smirked.

"Well, I appreciate the confidence you all seem to have in yourselves, that's a good thing," Wu chuckled, seeing all three looked determined now.

* * *

><p>Morrow was sitting outside an old shop, tired from walking and taking a break. He didn't know where to head off to next, but he should probably head out again soon, as it was getting dark out and he knew it wasn't smart to be sitting out in the open like that. A bell sounded and he looked over to see an old woman come out to light the lamp in front of her shop.<p>

She paused and turned her head to stare at the boy. "I'm sorry for loitering! I'll… I'll be off then-" Morrow jumped to his feet, loudly apologizing and went to run away.

"Hey…" she gruffly shouted at him, "You look cold…" she looked around to see if anyone was around. "Come in for a bit… I hate seeing kids in the cold…" she mumbled, leaving the door open for him.

Morrow was taken aback by her actions… though decided to take her up on this offer to come inside. "Mystakes… Tea Shop…" he tilted his head. Though, the board in front of the word 'tea' dropped to reveal another underneath, "Wait… Magic shop?" he blinked, slowly stepping inside still, though he decided to be more on guard.

"Here… this should warm you right up…" the woman named Mystake slid a cup over to him once the six year old had a seat at the counter. "Yero! Come on… I need you to clean the shelves again!" she called for another boy who came out with a green kerchief on his head.

"Yes grandma," he nodded with a bit of a smile, glancing over to Morrow. "… who is he?" he seemed concerned.

"A passerby… thought he'd like a break…" she brushed her grandson off while she looked at a list of what seemed to be ingredients. "Now hush up while I work on this new experiment…" she waved a hand. "My aunt passed this recipe to me to see if I could replicate it… no luck yet though sweetie…"

The boy named Yero came over to look at the list she was looking at. Morrow just quietly watched on, sipping his tea. "Huh… an aging tea? For starters… isn't great aunt Elise missing the camellia petal?"

"Yes… said if I could perfect it, I could name it…" she smirked, checking his suggestion again. "And I tried that one… can never get the blossoms when they're ripe… you know what a horrible gardener I am… but so far the effects are temporary… but if I could get it to last for more than five hours… it's all mine and I don't have to share a thing with her! I'm gonna have a use a substitute for the blossom…"

"Cool! I hope you can fix it!" her grandson smiled wider, taking more of an interest.

"Wait so are you a witch!?" Morrow shouted suddenly, putting two and two together.

Yero and Mystake froze and stared at his sudden outburst. She rolled her sleeves up, looking back down though, "You could call me that… I'm really just a simple old woman who has a family business for brewing magical teas… you wouldn't believe how much this stuff sells… you're drinking one that will give you strength for a week… it's quite valuable this stuff…"

Morrow looked back at his cup and realized he wasn't really hungry anymore. "Cool…" he smiled a bit.

She laughed more, "You wanna see more? You look interested now," she raised an eyebrow.

The small master of air smiled wide, happy to see someone was treating him kinder than what his luck had been for the past three days. He nodded quickly and Mystake gestured for him to come around back.

"Finally I get someone who's interested in this craft! Everyone just wants to buy and run! They don't care about the art…" she laughed, "Yero, come on, I need to get more supplies from the back anyways for this one!"

"Yes grandma!"

"Sooo… are you like her apprentice?" Morrow asked the other boy.

"Yep! She takes care of me since my parents died," Yero cheerily answered. "It's so much fun working around here…" he pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose more. "My grandma looks all mean and sounds like she would be too… but trust me, she's not…"

Mystake looked over her shoulder, giving a stink eye that made her grandson shut his mouth right away.

Morrow just nodded, following the two in the back room.

It then hit him.

_"She was brewing an aging tea that had permanent effects…?"_

**I'm subtle. **

**Oooh my gooooosh, I might get this finished by February aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. This one p much wrote itself last night, I just revised it today... I also found more songs for this playlist... you see, I bought Death pf a Bachelor by P!ATD last week soo... I listened to it on loop at least... 6 times now... it's so gooooood like, House of Memories and Golden Days... just... damn... I wanna cry listening to them they're so perfect... this whole albums is gold...**

**K soo, sorry to say Lloyd wasn't in this one much XD He'll be getting his ending wrap up soon since he is like eleven now and everything is working out perfectly, soo yaay... as you can also see Garmadon making plans to raid the valley soon... Man... I estimate about... hmm... 5 chapters left. **

**I wonder if I can fit everything I need to in that time frame... I might to have it end on like 135 chapters so... maybe 6 more chapters... that means... three more weeks unless I can do three chapters a week... or just update whenever I have it ready... this is getting exciting for me now! **

**Thanks for reading guys, I'll see you all later! :D **

**~Mar **


	131. Morrow's Tea

Cole laughed loudly as he and Zane sat next to each other on the monastery's deck as young Jay was flung off the course in a wide arc, face first on the pavement. It took him a minute to manage to sit up, wiping his bloody nose, which smeared on the pavement, "You try it if you think you're so tough and strong!? It's hard!" he wiped his watering eyes next.

The black haired boy smirked, "Okay then… I'll even beat your record…" he stood up, rolling the sleeves to his shirt up and running over to attempt the training course himself again.

Zane just sighed, he saw the problem already, Jay thought speed could him through and Cole was probably just going to attempt to power through the course… it wasn't anything knew, that's what they've been doing ever since they got here… they also took horrible direction but they would learn, Jay was proven to be a fast one.

Wu heard them from inside. Those sounds were so familiar… laughing and teasing, training and encouraging one another… It reminded him of when his family was their age. To be honest, he never imagined in a million years that this would be his life now. His younger self would have laughed at it, saying his life would never change that drastically.

His main worry was about his son… if he was doing okay. It had been over two months since he ran away and no one had seen or heard of him, and now Jay, Zane, and Cole come to live with him as his students so they were his new poriority. He slid the door open, returning to the boys as Cole got even farther than Jay did. Zane was the only one of the three who actually made it through skillfully… the other two would learn eventually.

"You are doing well… Jay… you're fast but you need to use it to your advantage, you can't just plow through it… same with Cole…"

"Uh, but Cole's doing fin-"

"Wait for it," Wu cut him off. A beat later, Cole was yelping as he got slammed to the floor on his backside, "See? Being and strong and powerful doesn't help you either Jay. The blue eyed boy lowered his head, nodding a bit with a small smile, it was rather funny to watch that happen to Cole, though, he tried to laugh in front of him, "On the bright side… you're decent with the nunchucks…"

"Thanks sensei," Jay smiled again, still wiping his bleeding nose with the tissue Zane gave him. From what Wu had seen, they all got along for the most part, but Cole and Jay banged heads the most, Zane was the median for them but so far, they were all bonding fairly well, it would be a good team indeed.

_"They'll do just fine… I'm sure…"_ he let out a breath. _"They'll be strong enough to fight my brother… eventually…"_

There was a loud knock at the gate, Wu deciding to be the one to answer it. It was the mailman. "This was the only thing that came for you… seemed to have gotten lost in the mail for a couple of weeks judging by the postmark… so they sent a rush on it… sorry for the inconvenience," he handed Wu the large envelope with a familiar boarding school crest on it.

Puzzled, Wu opened it up, wondering what it could possibly say.

_Dear Mr. Wu,_

_ Your sister in-law requested that we notify you as soon as possible should it come to this situation, but we regret to inform you that your nephew, Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon has been expelled from Darkly's Boarding School for Bad Boys. _

_It was made known that you would be his primary caregiver when this happened and we hope to find he is safe in your care, if not, then we will most likely have no idea of his whereabouts and are no longer held responsible for whatever happens to him when leaving the school grounds. _

_ Have a nice day sir,_

_ Vice Principal Andromeda Stevenson_

Wu's eyes widened. It was dated weeks ago! Nearly two months! A few weeks was an understatement! Lloyd never came to the monastery like this said! He noticed the students were looking at him, confused as to why he was so agitated now by this letter. "It is nothing; junk mail is all…" he shook his head, ripping the letter up. "Please return to your training boys…"

_"I bet Lloyd just… ran to the Underworld instead…" _he decided. _"I'm sure he'll be taken better care of by his father… he likes him better anyways and I don't blame him in the slightest… besides… I'm busy with these kids… he'd probably feel left out…"_

Wu discarded the letter and went back to teaching his ninja in training.

* * *

><p>"There…" Garmadon pointed. "I… have my doubts… but Kasai was my friend as well…" he glanced up at Samukai bitterly, a subtle jab and the ignored instructions he gave Samukai. "And… it's possible he could have taken the map and hidden it somewhere in that old blacksmith shop, somewhere I apparently wouldn't think to look first because that would put his children in danger… so from my understanding… only two people there now…" he smirked. "I almost feel bad about it… but… there will be a girl and a boy… you're going to take the girl…"<p>

He remembered her, how could he not? That was why he felt the slightest feelings of guilt for this plan; little Nya Blackman… he was there for her birth and so many birthdays when she was young, she loved him like an uncle… it was her older brother that hated him and he disliked right back, always kicking and screaming when he would be forced to hold him, even as a newborn, they never clicked right.

From what he saw a lifetime ago, Nya was very kind, but was even more stubborn and was quick to be on guard of things, taking her would be a bit troublesome, especially if she was Namiko's daughter… but she was Kai's weakness, and he knew it would come in handy in the case they hit a wall and needed some… persuasion.

_"It'll be perfect… Kai's father was the master of fire… and I am most certain that he's the one who inherited that judging by personality… Wu will come for Kai next, he has to if he wants a full team and Kai is the obvious answer judging by who he took as the other three students… very soon he will come for the brat… and that night will be my last shot at taking the map… so we have to move…"_

He folded his arms and smiled, "Well… you have your orders… you ride for The Four Weapons blacksmith shop in two hours…" he turned on a heel and left the room, "This world is going to be mine… then I can come and get you Lloyd… and you too Misako… and we won't have to be separated by this ever again…" he smiled at the thought.

It was such a wild dream for him, he had doubts at first, but everything was finally coming full circle after everyone chasing their tails like this, trying to sabotage plans, move without the other noticing, and avoiding troubles, but here he was, inches close to achieving his goal. He didn't care about being king of the dead; he wanted to be king of the world. Once out of here, he wouldn't even need this stupid army anymore!

* * *

><p>Lloyd was stuck on what to do about the whole 'army' plan, but that wasn't until he saw a poster in a book and comic shop that piqued his interest, "Serpentine?" he raised an eyebrow and ran into the store. "Whoa… I remember reading about these things once in history class… they were some of the most evil things ever… man… I wish they were still alive…" he flipped through a book, mumbling to himself. "It says the last of them were… sealed away over twenty five years ago by… Ninjago's heroes?"<p>

He stopped and stared at the picture of several young men and women, all around their thirties. He then recognized the man in the middle and smiled again. "Is that my dad?" he looked surprised. "Wow…" he then looked at the other people, not making comment on the woman next to him with her scythe, an arm wrapped around each of their shoulders, showing how close they were compared to the others around them. "Tombs huh…?" he frowned. "There's no map though! This thing is useless!" he growled.

"Of course there isn't a map! That's crazy to include something like that!" one girl around fifteen who obviously worked there plucked the book from his hands.

Lloyd recognized that voice though, "Sophie!?" he looked up with a smile, how could he forget any of the St. Maria's girls? She smiled back, knowing it was him the whole time naturally, she just wanted to play a little joke on him, "I…" it was about two months since they last saw each other. "What are you doing here though!?"

"Dropped out once I heard you were the only one getting expelled, I didn't agree when Cassandra told me to shut up about it and accept this was how things worked sometimes… when my mom heard, she gave me the choice… Lanie said she'd rather stay in school… so… ya know… It's weird not having her around… but I'm still friends with everyone," she looked back at the blonde. "Are… you doing okay? Are you with your family?" She observed what he was wearing, he didn't look to be the cleanest… but on second thought, when he was at the school he didn't either so she ignored it… but he did look kind of hungry and tired… and maybe a bit cold…

Lloyd straightened up. He didn't want her to worry about him at all; he couldn't have any more of that, he found nothing but trouble when stuff like that happened to him. What was he going to say anyways? That he ran away from everyone and wasn't going to be with either parent or his uncle? He'd have to make up something quick though.

"Uh… yea, my uncle uh, dropped me off here while he went to run errands and ya know… I'm going to my dad's tonight heh heh…" he slowly looked away.

"Well I won't hold you up… I guess you wanna get going… I'm sure you're dad's gonna be so happy to see you, he's really cool!" she chuckled, ruffling his hair, though seemed concerned about his interest in the book. "Why… did you even want to know more about them anyways? You never were a bookworm when I knew you…" she laughed a bit more.

"Oh!" Lloyd remembered, "You see, I want to control an army like my dad! I thought these guys would be so cool to command! Look at them… this one hypnotizes people!"

"It would be horrible if they were still alive! Whoever had an army like that… I'm sure it would lead to a lot of bad stuff…" she shuddered to even think about it. It was also slightly concerning that Lloyd was still hellbent on being like his father. "Well… I'll tell Lanie and the girls you stopped by… that'll make them all happy to hear I'm sure… good luck Lloyd…"

He looked back at her, waving a bit before hopping down the steps. His plans weren't changed… all he had to do was find the tombs and he would have a whole army to control, because they would be in his debt for releasing them again! He laughed to himself, what a devious plan he had! He was a real genius! Smarter than Gene could ever hope to be!

* * *

><p>"Hey… Morrow! You're back!" Yero peeked over the counter with a smile when he saw the other boy walk into the tea shop, "Did you find out anything else about that scroll thingy you were showing me?! You've been gone for two weeks!" he ran around the counter to greet him. "Grandma! Morrow stopped by!"<p>

"Look at that… the tramp is back…" she scuttled out of the back room with several jars. "What does he want now?" Morrow waved at her and sighed with a tired smile, "You really are an odd kid… ya know that?" she pointed at him.

The young master of wind sat up on the bar stool, looking at her tea pot, "Did you finish it yet?" he asked, hopefully. What she didn't realize was that he was planning on using it for himself; she just figured he was encouraging her.

"I'm pretty close," she checked her glass dropper and emptied it in the pot. "I'm getting closer… so far I measured… about one pot equals around… hmmm… ten years… give or take some… but as for the permanent part… getting there… these things take time sadly…" she mumbled while she was focusing, "Why don't you do regular things that normal little seven year olds should be doing anyways? Not dabbling in magic and hidden artifacts…"

Morrow looked down, "Because I have a debt to be paid… and worth to be proven…" his hand balled up into a fist on the counter. "And I can't just sit and be… normal…"

Mystake looked up with concern, "Whoa there chosen one… heroes don't decide to be heroes… it just happens… don't go looking for trouble now… you got that!?" she jabbed a finger at him. "I don't care if your some elemental master… you're still a kid and it would be a shame if you got hurt in the process!"

The gray eyed boy looked away angrily, "Of course you wouldn't understand…" he blew his hair out of his eyes and looked back at the opened pot, then at some of the labels of the jars, "Hey… I heard that that stuff is a natural uh… preservative or something… maybe… it could have the effects you need…" he blinked. You pick up a lot of stuff when you're a kid on the street and sneaked around market places to steal food.

Mystake seemed surprised and looked at the jar, frowning, "Worth a shot I guess… I can't possibly screw this one up anymore than I already have…" she nodded, agreeing to accept his odd advice.

It did something different this time, as soon as she finished dumping in another spoonful of whatever dried and crushed leaves she had, it let out a puff of smoke that filled the room, the old woman and two boys coughing, opening the door to let it air out.

"Dear gods… I think I did it," she laughed loudly. "Look at that, Morrow, you were right!" she clapped her hands together, laughing loudly, "Yero… I'll be right back, I need to jar this up…" she finished scribbling down everything she used. "In your face Elise! I told ya I could do it! She's gonna be so pissed off when I show her this!"

Morrow tapped his fingers on the bar counter, staring at the liquid. _"If I used it… I'll be older… and I can master my powers better… and I'll be stronger than I am now… and Wu will see that I'm the chosen one… I'm his green ninja… everyone will see… even those… replacements he got…"_

It was decided then.

"Morrow…?" the older boy saw the young wind master grab the pot and jumping to the ground, smashing it right at his feet. "MORROW WAIT!"

The smashing of porcelain echoed; a cloud of green gray smoke erupted from the broken pot. In the seven year old's place was an older teenager who wiped his eyes, coughing from the tea potion.

"What the hell's going on in there?!" Mystake ran back in to find Morrow… was not so little anymore. "So it does work…" she said in awe. "Look at you…" she breathed, staring at the slightly confused boy. "Heh… Morrow… I guess it would be fitting you'd be the first victim to test… you guess at the right ingredient after all…" she gave an odd chuckle. "Heh… Morrow's Tea… Kind of sounds like Tomorrow… you skipped a lot of those to look like this now…" she thought out loud.

Morrow smirked a bit, slowly nodding along. "I don't have to be held back anymore now… I can finally prove to him what I'm made of… he'll regret lying and denying what I really am…"

"What are you going on about?" the tea shop owner raised an eyebrow, concerned for him now.

"Sorry to run out like this… but this was what I needed so badly… now that I'm not confined to my younger body… the travelling part of my search can officially begin…"

"Search for what?" Mysatke demanded to know.

"An old legendary crystal… one that is said to let the user freely move between dimensions without the need of time consuming practices like potions and wizardry…" he ran a hand through his longer hair. "I need to find it… then my master will see that I'm the worthy one… I will be the green ninja…" he turned on a heel and started walking out.

"So… you're just some butt hurt little twerp who didn't get his way?" Mystake puffed. "I should have known you were a greedy one… may you never find what you seek… because if you do… all hell could very well be unleashed before all of us… and I mean it literally," she said that last part with a more or less deadpan face.

"Ha… sure… It won't matter… with the realm crystal… said to be forged by the First Spinjitsu Master lifetimes ago… you could rule the dimensions with it… people will fear me and I'll be the protector of this barren wasteland of villains and injustice…. now who wouldn't want that kind of power?"

"Smart people who know it was impossible to rule like that," the old woman snarked back.

Morrow rolled his eyes and stepped out, "Thanks for the potion… you were some of the first and only people who were kind to me… and I really do appreciate that," he pulled out his scroll again. "Now… if you will pardon me… I believe I have a good lead on where I can find this thing…"

The wind slammed the door behind him.

**And like that, Marissa avoided a plot hole with the magic card she complained about being overused in Ninjago days ago on tumblr... **

**But honestly, like I was telling some people... Morrow was being such a brat on the show! I couldn't stop imagining him as being an eight year old mentally... so what better way to hit that note harder than make him a actual eight year old who got aged up? **

**I also wanted to show another parallel between Lloyd and Morrow... ya know? I uh... also, when I was a kid, I though the tea was called Morrow's Tea not Tomorrow's Tea so when I heard about a character named Morrow... I thought he was linked to it XD I was fourteen guys... don't judge me lol...**

**So yea... this is the explanation everyone was waiting for as to how I got around the five/six year difference in age with Lloyd and him! :D **

**On a side note, I didn't wanna just forget about a lot of the student characters I made so I threw Sophie in there because I liked her a lot... I hate it when Ninjago leaves out the side characters that were kind of important and had a roll and then you never hear about them again because they became 'irrelevant' or whatever so yea... as you can tell here, "I'm trying to keep everything in this story as relevant as possible...**

**The next one is gonna be angsty and sad... just a warning guys so you can mentally prepare for the next update this week... because it's Garsako angst, Morrow angst... Lloyd might get a breakdown... **

**Thanks for reading guys! I'll see ya around later! **

**~Mar**


	132. In the End in Wondrland we Both Went Mad

Lord Garmadon watched his men move out; it would take about half a day to reach Ignacia from the entrance they were leaving by because Wu couldn't know about this at all, none of their old allies could know for fear of informing or helping in any way, shape, or form. It was just too risky for him to be that careless.

People were wary of when Skulkin showed up on the surface, even if it was just one, Wu probably heard about it and would grow suspicious about it.

He slinked back into his room to wait around for them to come back with the map and Nya, doing nothing but imagining a world where he was the ruler… he always thought about it, how wonderful it would be… his heart ached though, doubt started showing up; what if Misako told him no and left him for real? Not even caring about what he could probably do to her… She could very well do that to him… and he wanted to do this with her… The plan was to never rule by himself; he wanted his queen there with him. He knew Lloyd would have no fight about it, he would willingly follow.

"That's silly… she said she'd follow me anywhere… I should find her once I get out of here so I can tell her about my plans… I bet she misses me too anyways… she'll be happy to see me… she must be…" he smiled at the lovely thought, running into a tight hug, sharing a long needed kiss he needed so badly… then they would go find Lloyd and he would be so happy mommy and daddy were back together and they would never have to worry about something trying to rip them apart again…

_But… what if she never wanted to see you again? How do you know she misses you like you say?_

Oh great… not this again… "That's ridiculous… she never said she was done with me… she still loves me… she's probably trying to find a way to make me look human again… I… she was probably hurt… I don't blame her if she needed some time to sort the problem out…" he tried to reason.

_Or maybe she loves what you could have and should been to her… maybe she never wanted to hurt your feelings when she left you for a better man so she said she needed time to herself to figure this little predicament out… in fact… how do you know that's what she's really doing?_

"She promised there was no one else but me…" Garmadon shakily hissed at the darkness that was trying to place doubt in his mind. He knew that trick; it was taking a page from his book now! "I know her better than you ever will…"

_But you see… I have known you your whole life Garmadon… I know everything about you, I watched you two… grown with you… I was always there… I know your every thought, every impulse and urge you felt towards her… every fear, every doubt; I am you…_

Garmadon felt like something was touching his shoulder, he quickly turned around to see no one was there though. "You know nothing about me… you know nothing about my wife or how she loves me…"

_Alright… but, that is what I would say if I had another man to run too when the old one lost his novelty… face it… your brother could always be there for her… care for her while you laid around, doing nothing while she bared the emotional turmoil of never having someone to love her back when she truly needed it… almost never feeling wanted… did you love her? Or did you want to have her so your brother couldn't?_

"She knew I always loved her and I did nothing but she her it… so shut it and keep out of my marriage… because you don't know anything about me…" he snapped. "You claim you knew us… but you don't… if you did, you could see all the pain had to endure together… because there was no one else who understood us except us…"

_Your love for this trivial woman is never going to help you get what you want! I', trying to help you get rid of the baggage that will keep you from achieving out goal… She will do nothing but try to guide you back to the light instead of sitting with you in the darkness… When you escape… remain in the Dark Realm where you can grow in strength and come back to claim what should have been all yours! Then you can take whatever you want… you can even take her by force if she refuses you!_

Garmadon quieted down at the thought. It was reasonable advice… but he couldn't ever see himself doing that to Misako… she was too kind to him… but he also knew she could snap his neck without much problem so there was also that… "The only us in this plan is me… and my Misako… and my little boy… I will never stop caring about them, no matter what you say…"

_Yet you let her get away and you abandoned your boy after he got expelled and is probably homeless as we speak..._

"I would stop talking about things you know nothing about and go back to wherever the hell you came from…" He laid back on his bed, running the situation through his head, considering it more until he allowed his mind to rest for once in a long while... _"She loves me… she promised she would always love me… no matter what…"_

* * *

><p>Wu looked up at the sky; then back at the boys who were at the table with him inside, "I have to go out today… I recommend…" he slowly got up after finishing his tea, "You work on your stealth skills this week… how about that?" he stretched his back a bit more, once on his feet. "I'll only be gone for a few hours… but… I trust you boys to handle yourselves…" he grabbed his staff, "Cole's in charge, clean up the cups and tea pot when you're done please…"<p>

"What!?" Jay blurted out, spitting some of his tea out, which, just so happened to hit Cole who looked pissed off by this. "You're leaving and this dummy's in charge!?"

"Yes, you do whatever he says! He's the leader now!" Wu shouted as he slid the door shut. "See you all later!"

"Hah! I'm in charge! Yes!" the darker skinned teenager fist pumped the air. "I say for training… Jay cleans up and does a thousand pushups while I get to watch TV while Zane makes dinner!"

"What!? No way am I doing that!" Jay growled, ready to pound the crap out of the older boy… though… it may have been physically impossible to do that… Zane just sighed, starting to clean up himself while they were arguing.

Wu almost thought it was a bad idea to let them all be alone for so long… but, he had this strange feeling, an urgency to go and collect his final student, his master of fire… ironically enough… named Kai… he just hoped he would be so willing to come along on this quest to becoming a master of fire like his father was… not to mention, he could take care of him like he should have from the start of this mess…

And that was the least Wu could do to his deceased best friend.

* * *

><p><em>"Mm-mm…" a soft voice gave a closed mouth chuckle. "You're so cute when you're asleep… like a little angel…" a hand brushed his brown fringe from his eyes, caressing his cheek. "Do you know that love…?"<em>

_He looked up at her smiling face and smiled a bit back at her. "Morning Mimi…" he lifted his head up to kiss her sweetly. "Is Lloyd still asleep…?" he yawned a bit; fixing the strap on her nightdress from falling down anymore than it was. _

_"Yep…" she nuzzled closer, "I still have you all to myself for a few more hours…" she kissed his neck, wrapping her smaller body around his, "isn't that great?"_

_He smiled more, feeling her embrace, nodding a bit in response. "You are so beautiful…" he closed his eyes again, feeling at peace, like he always did when he was with her. "I would lose my mind if I didn't have you around…" he slid his hands down her small waist. _

_"… then why did you leave?"_

_His smile faded, "What did you say?"_

_"Why did you leave us behind? Why did you abandon me for the darkness if you claim you love me so much? You pushed me away… and then you expected me to follow?" her voice was void of the warmth it just had mere moments ago. _

_"Misako…" he pulled away to see her upset face, "I… I didn't stop loving you… you have no idea what was going through my head… it was relentless… day and night… it was driving me mad… hearing it all the time… I tried so hard but you weren't always home to help…"_

_"You said you would fight it… for me… you said you loved me… was that a lie too?"_

_"NO! Damnit!" he grabbed her shoulders, "You are the only love I have ever experienced… You are… you're so important to me… you will never know or understand…"_

_Misako laughed sarcastically, "Obviously… because leaving me in bed alone and asleep while you ran to the monastery to kill Wu and to take the weapons for yourself when I had no idea!? You lust after power more than you ever did for me!" _

_"You're my only love! Misako… you're my wife… we did everything together… I wanted no one but you… you and Lloyd are my life… you pushed me away more when you sent him off to school and told me to not come around again!" he hated this, why was she doing this to him!? "I wanted nothing to be close to you!" _

_"You need to wake up Garm… because you couldn't be farther from me… I'm just made up so you have someone to talk to when you're asleep… and I think you're beginning to finally catch on…" she looked back at him with nothing but hurt in her eyes. _

* * *

><p>The dark lord jumped out of his sleep, clutching a hand to his chest which was thudding so loudly, it may have very well have been audible. He stared into the darkness, maybe she was right… "just when I thought I could be safe when I'm asleep…" he mumbled, shaking a bit.<p>

His glowing eyes were watering over; missing her hugs, the scent of her messy, brown hair, her sparkling eyes, her laugh, that beautiful, soft voice that sang to him and their little boy, her lips, hungry to give him affection when she saw he was depressed or needed her, the comfort of her hands when he would need to hold onto something; missing literally everything about her.

"I just had to go that night…" he breathed. "I could be at home… with you instead… but I'm not…" she clenched his teeth together, angry with himself. "It was all me… I ruined your life… so slowly that you never even realized it… and neither did I… I was… so clingy and I never once thought about how you'd feel…"

_"Because it's all I ever did… I took from you more than I gave back… and now you're probably never going to come back… I ruined what we had… I wish you could hear me… because I'm sorry…" _he thought, wishing he could mend things right there and now… maybe he would get that chance soon…

A loud thud came on his door.

"What the hell is it!? I thought I said that no one was to disturb me!" he snapped, sounding as irritated and angry as he possibly could even though he was on the brink of crying again.

"Samukai has returned… and he brought you what you requested…"

Garmadon slowly stood up, calming himself down before he stepped outside, into the corridor to go see his general. "Well then little brother… I guess… I win… you'll see that I'm the clever one… and soon… it's you who will bow before me… begging for mercy before I destroy you…"

* * *

><p>Morrow looked at his map, he had everything marked; where the entrances were; rumored hidden caverns… he was so sure he had the right location. He looked up at the huge entrance. "This is it… the Caves of Despair…" he stepped inside with his torch, smiling now that he was finally here.<p>

He was almost a bit excited, he could navigate through here no problem, he could find the crystal, pluck it from its place and stroll right back through Wu's gates, all high and mighty; ready to take that green ninja robe back from him and wear it with honor.

Oh how he longed to see Wu's face, shocked, but respecting his student who he claimed was not chosen to be the champion of the light, to cleanse the darkness and to stomp on the evil that would hurt innocent people! And he would glorified and no one would ever mistreat him again.

"I'll make the world a better place for you mom… you told me I was to be great… and so did my sensei but he lied to me… It'll be a world where everyone will be happy and no one will ever have to die like you did… and Wu… you'll finally see what I'm really supposed to be… and I won't ever have to worry about you taking care of me ever again… because I don't need you anymore… I need to prove my worth… I need to show you that taking me in was no mistake…"

He marched on in the darkness, holding his torch up higher, smirking wider. Though; a cold wind followed him through, into the cave. Morrow never stopped to listen what it was whispering to him. _"Turn back… turn back and run home… run to daddy, run to where you were loved… he is ready to tell you the truth… Run and forget this endeavor…"_

* * *

><p><em>"Hmm… Mimi… wake up," soft lips kissed her cheek as she turned on her side to face him. "Mm… I love you so much…" their foreheads touched. She opened her eyes, looking back into his, blushing a bit.<em>

_"I love you too…" she breathed back, between their kiss, feeling his hands touch her cold body, pulling her into a bundle of warmth with him. "I always will… we'll be together forever…" she cuddled closer to him, suddenly wondering why she wasn't feeling warmer like she should have felt. _

_"You're gonna save me… right?" he nuzzled the side of her face more._

_Misako opened her eyes again, looking at her husband's tired, red eyes. "I… save you? You're perfectly fine… nothing bad's gonna happen to us… I promise… as long as I'm here…" she nervously smiled, holding a hand to his cheek. "Come on… let's just… go back to bed…"_

_"You didn't save me… and you can't… can you?"_

_"Garmadon…" she tilted her head away, feeling him pull her face closer, wondering why she felt so cold and sick to her stomach, "We're just fine, nothing's wrong… nothing bad is going to happen to us… I love you… please… I don't know what you're talking about… there's nothing to save you from…"_

_"You love him more… don't you? Someone emotionally stable who won't cause you so much grief… too scared to step outside his own home… someone who… isn't ME…"_

_"Please stop talking like that…" Misako swallowed, starting to remember what was really going on. "You and Lloyd are my life… I never wanted to leave you… You… y-you left me and left me with horrible options!"_

_"Then why did you abandon us when I wanted to come around more!? You left him too Misako… all alone… and I defended you to him even though you left me too… And for what!? Stupid and meaningless scrolls you always read?! They could never do a thing for us! I can see it in your eyes too… you know you failed… better yet… you just gave up…"_

_"Stop it! Please…" she held his pale face, "why are you saying these things!? I'm right here… I'm never leaving you… didn't I say that?! Didn't I promise you!? I don't love Wu, I love you!"_

_"I don't know what to believe anymore… all I do know is that you're in bed alone… and I'm not even with you… you can't deny it Mimi… you need to open your eyes and accept that I'm not the one for you and you wasted all these years on me…" he breathed. "Stop living in wonderland… because you can't save us… life is not what's in your perfect little world… and you need to accept it… let me go and wake the hell up already!" he shouted at her._

* * *

><p>Misako gasped, coming out of her sleep, taking a moment to sit up in bed to view her surroundings, remembering where she was, her apartment, five blocks away from the museum, where she shared the four rooms with her son for six months and now she was the only resident, with a cat for company.<p>

Speaking of which, Nina nosed through the cracked door, leaping onto the bed in her mistress' lap, allowing her stroke her black fur.

Her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it would explode. She stopped petting Nina and touched her face, finding she was crying. She looked around, scared someone else was in the room as well, but her bed had an empty spot right next to her and there were no shadows along the walls to show her husband was watching her, no one but her… _their_ cat for company.

Her green eyes welled up more as she held her hands to her face again, sobbing as quietly as she could, but it just got louder as she choked on her tears, hugging her other pillow as tightly as possible; partially screaming into it while Nina curled up at her side, knowing this was all she could do for her now.

She remembered everything now, every stupid little moment when he would make her laugh, when he would braid her hair and she would read to him, how scared he was to hold their baby moments after he was born, how much he tried to show he loved her at all times…

It was then she realized that she missed him more than she ever had before. "I never should have left… even for a second… I never should have spent all those days and nights away from you, denying you affection even though you would forget to say it back because that was so wrong… I was doing research and work when you needed me more… and I was too caught up in all of my museum garbage to see it… because I'm so damn selfish…" she sniffed.

"You're down there because of me… it's my fault… I should have paid more attention to you and your feelings… and just like my parents I started to write you off as fine… trusting you with our baby when you told me you didn't trust yourself… I'm no better than my parents… after all these years… I might as well have abandoned you…"

"I am going to help you though… I'm going to bring you home one way or another… and I know Lloyd is going to help me…" she shakily said, wishing he could hear her right now. "Don't worry about being away from me anymore… because I'm going to see you again soon…"

**GUYS! GUYS! ONE MORE CHAPTER! I have everything else written, I just need to revise and add some more stuff but basically, it's all done! Just one more chapter and an epilogue! I'm gonna get this done this week! AAAAH!**

**Not sure if I Can finish the last chapter today, it might be tomorrow it gets posted... I'm so excited... would you rather wait till tomorrow though if I finished it later? Or does it not matter? Either way, it'll be within like 24 hours, give or take of course... **

**Sooo... why the heck did I title this? As I was writing it, first off, in case no one can guess, the voice is essentially G's doubt and anxiety... being it says it was always there, knowing him his whole life... also, ya know, telling him half truths that provide the subtlest of doubt to grow... also, if you have not listened to it, I plan on posting the YT playlist later today on my profile so you can listen to it all, close to the end I selected to add Taylor Swift's 'Wonderland' which is about two lovers who thought everything was great, rushing into things and enjoying living in the here and now, not planning or seeing the future until she finds herself alone, him gone, both driven mad... kind of what keeps happening to these guys here, eh?**

**Also, yea, Sayu's cameo appears again in the role of the wind...**

**So the only endings there left to tell is Garmadon's, Misako's, and Morrow's... Lloyd's been kind of concluded in the last chapter and you don't need to see anymore of Wu after he sets out to go find Kai... so yea... this thing is wrapping up... I'll save the sappy stuff for the epilogue though... which is also needing to be revised... ugh... guess I better remove this from my story line up... shame the only thing I never accomplished with this story was getting to be 300,000+ words... but I got close, right? **

**Thanks a bunch for reading! I'll see you later! :D**

**~Mat**


	133. Crossroads

Morrow frowned, he seemed to have hit a dead end despite following what he assumed was the correct path, but the cavern looked rather odd for just a normal dead end, he set the map down and looked at some of the strange engravings on the walls, thinking he was in the right place now.

"It would have to be here… this looks like some kind of important room…" he frowned, talking to himself.

The wind master knew of the legends of the Caves of Despair well enough; an ancient tribe of cultists to the Overlord met in the chambers here and made extensive mazes and tunnels so outsiders like the Spinjitsu Master and his friends could not easily find them.

However… Morrow did not know how to read the engravings that well, being he never got that far because he decided to run away from the Monastery before Wu could even get the chance to help him feed into his interests like this.

Though, after a few minutes, he picked out a few pictographs he recognized well enough.

"… In… the shadows…" he narrowed his eyes, slowly reading along, "the fires… will rise… and claim the…?" he blinked, setting his foot down behind him, wanting to get out now that he was fairly creeped out. He failed to say the last word but he knew what that last word was. It was 'dead'. He didn't wish to stick around and find out who the dead where.

When he did step down though, something triggered on the floor. He could feel the shift in the air as it became warmer in the room suddenly and what seemed to be cool, fresh air from the entrances were closed off. A pit cold pit was in his stomach though as he knew what this meant now for him. A dead end would be a very correct description of this chamber indeed.

He growled, "Death won't even stop me… I'll get back at you Wu… I promise that… you're going to remember me and respect my name… because I don't care how I'll do it, I'll come back… I'll come back even stronger than this form… and you and those dumb new students of yours will pay!" He closed his eyes as he felt the room grow hotter, feeling like his skin was already melting off before the lava trap could open.

* * *

><p>Garmadon couldn't believe that was Nya sitting in his dungeon right there… she was so grown up now… the last time he saw her… why… she must had been at least four or so, maybe even five years old… but she was fifteen now… He could see it, it was her for sure.<p>

And she had quite the big mouth, maybe a bigger one than Namiko showed to him at times.

He chuckled a bit when Kruncha and Nuckal seemed too afraid to go even a few feet to her, like she could somehow hurt them even though she was tied up quite well. She didn't even have any ninja training and probably didn't even know about her elemental powers she probably possessed.

The dark lord smirked a bit, Kai was with his brother now and soon he would be on his way to winning this fight. As he stood there, Samukai was on his way to lead the new excavation project at the Caves of Despair while Wu played babysitter with his students.

He opened the door and stepped in silently. Nya stared at him with shock, her tan skin paling a bit at the sight of him. "You… you're a myth…"

"Nah… not really… most folks know I'm alive and real… like your parents knew very well how alive I was… shame you don't even remember me…"

"Don't speak of my parents! They were honorable fighters who always did what was right! You ordered them to be murdered just because of that! Didn't you!? You get these Skulkin to do your dirty work and you don't care how it affects other people!" Nya spat back, tears in her brown eyes.

Garmadon sighed at her ignorance. "Like I would give the order for two of my best friends to be killed…" he grabbed her chin, "You better listen closely little girl… no one knew your parents better than I did… and by that… I can read you like a book… you're really scared right now… aren't you?"

"Fat chance…" Nya jerked her head away angrily.

"You see… you may look an awful lot like Namiko… but I know those eyes are Kasai's… and I know how scared those eyes looked when he knew his sweet Namiko was in some kind of danger… and you know that your brother will be in danger very soon… don't you? You're not scared for yourself, that's too easy to be; you're scared for him crossing my path…"

"Leave Kai out of this! You won't get a thing from me and he's working on a way to find me right now!"

"Oh don't worry… I don't need you to do anything for me and I don't need to make a deal… I have a good use for you already and you don't have to do a thing…" Garmadon laughed tauntingly. After another moment he tousled her dark hair, "Hard to believe that cute little girl was you… you've become quite a fighter… you have such strength…"

It was true, her skin was darker; she was built well, obviously showing she did a lot of labor around the blacksmith shop, more than her older sibling in fact.

When he was about to leave, she spoke up again, this time, softer, "Just… don't hurt Kai… don't take him away from me too…" she closed her eyes, "He's the only family I have left…"

The dark lord slammed the door shut as a response. He didn't want hurt the kids… but if they were going to aim for killing him, he was going to defend himself and his own personal mission.

* * *

><p>Misako stood in front of the legendary Final Battle project, staring at the tapestries from long ago. She was indignantly looking at them. "You're going to use him somehow… I know you're not dead… you never were… Masuta just stripped you of your mortal form… but you are still alive… and I know you're going to use him to get what you want…"<p>

Sonia walked up behind her, "Finished polishing it up for you…" she handed the older woman the medallion, "You looked like you were getting ready for an adventure of something judging by how you have your scrolls for this all neatly fitted into your case and stuff…" she commented, looking at where she was looking at. "So… going back to war… are you general?" she smirked playfully.

"Yes… in a way I guess…" Misako looked at her feet with a faint smile, "Quite soon though I'm afraid… Lloyd must be… eleven by now… soon he will face his destiny… I can feel it… we're at the crossroads…" she slowly took a few steps back, "I got the letter months ago… he got expelled… so that means Wu is going to find out who his green ninja is… and then he will be trained to be a master of Spinjitsu… like us… and I'm going to be there to help him… even if he's angry with me for being the worst mother in history…"

She looked at her reflection in the medallion, "But… that nightmare I had the other night… it made me open my eyes… I'm done being like them… I'm not going to be my parents… I'm going to come back and help… I'm not going to abandon him again… or Lloyd… or Wu… I'm done with all of that… I just helped everyone hurt more when I isolated myself and I need to make up for it…"

"When do you plan on doing that exactly?" the shorter woman folded her arms, raising an eyebrow. "I need to know so I can lounge around without you to get on my butt about being lazy…" she chuckled a bit.

"I'll let you know… and yea; you are very lazy because I know you get Daniel and me to do all you work," she turned with a smile, "Come on… we're going for coffee… I could use some air…"

Sonia smiled, "Been a while since I heard something like that from you…"

"Like I told you…" the green eyed woman looked down, "I'm done with isolating myself here… I always did it and I see that I may have helped Garmadon's fall speed up… and I need to do something to apologize… and hopefully that will be to save him from getting himself killed by something bigger than all of us…" she stepped it up, "Now let's go… I'm paying this time… you wasted enough on me…"

**I'm like 50/50 on writing a short about how Morrow got into the Cursed Realm and stuff after this happened...**

**Buuuut... that's it guys... it's an open ending since we all know where each character goes and does... but look, Nya showed up for .8 seconds... **

**So yep... my backstory for my babies... Epilogue will come later... I figured to post this last chapter at 1 am as a surprise when you all wake up and want to waste time before you have to go to school... good thing it's short I guess lol...**

**You're gonna like the new epilogue... still feel bad that other ones got destroyed... but... oh well... this one works way better for the story!**

**Thank you for reading! :D on a side note, the playlist links are on my profile now if you wanna check em out :3**

**~Mar**


	134. Epilogue

The book was closed and set aside by the older couple who looked back at their teenage son who stared at them, not exactly showing one single emotion, which was understandable; it was quite a long and constantly shifting story… not to mention many things he never knew about he just found out.

"And that is the tale of The First Masters of Spinjitsu… all laid out for you," Misako looked down with a sad smile, feeling her husband hold her hand tightly. "Now you know our story… the full and complete story of how we ruined our lives… and yours… and somehow managed to gain your forgiveness…"

Lloyd finally made a move… not get up and leave or anything, but instead, jumped forward, tackling them in a tight hug. Garmadon and his wife smiled as well, hugging him back and laughing. "You don't have to apologize… I just heard the whole thing right there… you wouldn't think I'd not understand? That was the best story ever!"

"Who knows anything at this point son…" Garmadon placed a hand on his blonde head, still smiling. "After what happened on the island… I… knew you had the right to the full story… you don't have to forgive us just because we're your parents you know…"

"Well, I want to forgive you for leaving me when I was a kid… thanks so much for telling me…" the green ninja hugged them again. "Besides, I never knew how cool you guys really were…" he chuckled.

"Hey, hearing what you did at school was pretty cool too," Misako kissed his cheek. "I'm so proud of what you did for your friends… even though they were you enemies and it got you expelled… I knew you were the green ninja from the start… how could you not be? You were our little light… and we never should have left you alone… I still feel so horrible…"

Lloyd just nodded a bit, "Well… it's okay you left… as long as you guys stay together this time… I kind of like the way things are now… it all worked out… right?"

Garmadon pulled Misako closer, kissing her cheek, hugging her smaller body, "I don't think you'll have to worry about that ever again son… we won't be going anywhere for a very long time," he kissed her again when he saw she was blushing brightly, shy that he was doing this so much in front of their son.

"LLOYD! WHERE ARE YOU?! THE MAYOR OF NINJAGO CITY CALLED AND SAID HE NEEDS TO SEE US RIGHT AWAY!" Jay shouted loudly from the other room. "I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S ABOUT BUT WE GOTTA ROLL!"

"Go on," Misako gestured to the door, knowing her son wanted to go on an adventure. "The city needs you I'm sure… and tell that old fool at City Hall; the Generals Garmadon says hi…" she smirked deviously.

Her son laughed a bit and nodded in agreement with her, "Oh yea, I'll tell him that for sure after all the stuff I heard about him in that story! That was one of the best parts to be honest! For a minute there I thought you were gonna say dad beat him up…" he raced out the door, ninja hood flying on, over his bleach blonde hair.

Misako pushed the book away onto the next couch cushion, looking like she was going to cry now that Lloyd had left them alone to go with his friends, "Is it wrong I'm happy to have relived all of that with him? I don't feel like I should be… I feel like I should be ashamed of our past…"

"Not at all my love… I'm happy too… we had good times too… not all of it was that bad…" her husband softly smiled before hugging her again. "Come on… I say we go make some new memories while we let those kids handle things…" he whispered him her ear playfully.

"Oh?" she looked up as he scooped her up in his arms, leaving the old book on the table in the loft of their monastery. She chuckled a bit at his forwardness, like usual. "Well… okay then my dear sensei…" she reached a hand up to move a few pieces of hair from his eyes.

Before the famous group of young ninja that were heroes throughout the land, before Sensei Wu grew a long white beard, before facing nindroids, cultists, Skulkin, Stone Warriors, or Serpentine, before the identity of the green ninja was revealed, or even before the four mighty ninja were gathered to train to stop the evil Lord Garmadon…

There were ten… before there were ten there were six… and before there were six there were three.

Where the story started there were just two, a boy and a girl with a destiny they ignored, they changed the outcome, writing their own ending, finding nothing but love and happiness with their new family and learned that the past of was in the past, but there was always the future…

And they lived happily ever after, written the history books of Ninjago for all to know that they were special:

They were the First Masters of Spinjitsu.

* * *

><p><strong>And so our tale finally comes to an end...<strong>

**After 15 story arcs, spanning over 50 years of time, around 20 plus main featured characters, cameos, features, and appearances from over 25 plus comic book and show characters, 30 plus ocs, 13 plus character deaths, 285,000 words, give or take, 133 updates, 260 plus reviews, 33 favorites, 24 alert lists, 35,000 plus views, and 1 YouTube playlist, aaand**

**almost 2 whole years of blood, sweat, and tears, several breakdowns, a million anxiety attacks, and hundreds of hours staying up late to work on this... **

**I'm DONE**

**This was by far my greatest writing accomplishment and I couldn't have hoped for a better audience to share it with. I have received nothing but kind words and encouragement from all of you that helped me to keep going, even when a chapter never got a review...**

**I never thought I could ever say that I had finished a 100 plus chapter story that became so popular, not quite as popular as In Another World which is still going on, but seriously, there were many a time I felt like giving up on this because I thought no one was watching even though i had a million and one idea...but something always said that it was right finish it, and I was having fun with it anyways and now look, you guys really ended up loving it...  
><strong>

**When I started this story, I thought it was going to be around 60 chapters or so... but then it somehow turned into this huge epic full of emotion I never fully intended on putting in... but it happened how it happened and I couldn't be prouder of myself that I stuck with this when in the past I've had to give up on several stories less than a fourth of this one... **

**I'm p much crying a tiny bit rn because I literally thought this was going to never end... like all things, there has to be an ending... I learned that from Ninjago rn, you gotta just put it down before it turns into something you never intended it to be... tbh though, I probably could have kept this going and made it longer with more chapters in certain areas that eventually got scrapped because it was unnecessary and didn't fit in... **

**The story was actually meant to end after Misako drops Lloyd off at the school... but then I got ideas and I realized I could never leave this story unfinished without tell Lloyd's story too, that'd be unfair. I then added Morrow in because I liked his character and the amazing headcanon I read that he was Wu's illegitimate child... **

**I hope you enjoyed this epilogue, because I couldn't stand the thought of leaving it without the Garmadon family all together, laughing and hugging and being together. **

**As for why Lloyd left? Remember when I said that part of these events take place in The Tournament universe? Well... this kind of has to do with the coming sequel to that story I hope to start by summer time... so yea, thought I would through in a teaser for you guys who enjoyed that story :)**

**Sooo, thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you for clicking on my story and sharing this super long, super fun adventure with me, you guys are literally the best and I honestly cannot stop saying it! **

**I look forward to sharing more of my stories with all of you... so... with that said, you can go back now and reread the whole story with the new playlist I hopefully will make even longer soon and find the time... **

**I guess I should go now... this was too sappy... well... signing off for the last time guys... see ya around**

**~Mar**

**PS... would anyone be interested if I made a separate 'story' just for fun facts and background stuff about this story? I could answer questions sometimes too if there were any guests who I couldn't contact...**


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